Trinity student Tate Donnelly has announced his candidacy for the upcoming General Election.
Donnelly will run as a Green Party candidate in Cavan Monaghan. Making the announcement on Facebook today, Donnelly wrote: “I am the youngest Dáil candidate in the country in this election. It’s a daunting task and it will be a tough battle to win a seat, but I’m going to give it absolutely everything I have”
Donnelly is a third-year mathematics and economics student, as well as the current chair of Trinity Young Greens.
Donnelly is directing his campaign at the young people, writing: We have been let down and we should be annoyed. We have been left with a climate crisis that will have a detrimental impact on our lives for years to come, and our elected representatives have totally failed to act on it, leaving us with a huge mess. Instead, they have played the blame game and have just put people under more pressure than they’re already under.”
He continued: “We need real alternatives, like creating jobs in retrofitting houses and renewable energy. We need more reliable, more frequent, and more affordable public transport across Cavan and Monaghan. We need farmers to get a proper price for their produce and supports for them to reduce their emissions. We need a choice, we need hope, we need leadership, and we must all be in this together.”
In addition to the climate crisis, Donnelly addressed current economic concerns as well, stating that “young people will pay 1 in every 20 euro of their tax in paying back a National Debt that we aren’t responsible for for years ahead. So many of us must move away for better opportunities or travel long distances every day. We face a crisis in housing on top of that, where many of us face the real threat of never being able to own our own home. We need services and facilities to allow us to stay at home, to live and work in the areas we love, and to give us any chance of a safe, sustainable future.”
Donnelly asserted that “Cavan and Monaghan have been left behind,” stating: “They have the 2 highest suicide rates in the country. This needs to be addressed immediately. They have poor services, poor job prospects, and poor representation in Dáil Éireann. We need change, in climate, in housing, in health and mental health, in transport,in agriculture, in our shameful immigration system, in workers rights, and so so much more. We need to bring our struggling main streets back to life. We need our derelict sites to be back in use. We need hope.”
Donnelly has established a Donorbox page with a goal of €5,000 to raise money for his election campaign.
In addition to Donnelly’s campaign, Trinity graduates Conor Reddy and Rob O’Donnell will also run in the upcoming general election. O’Donnell is also running for the Green party, while Reddy has been selected as a People Before Profit candidate for Dublin North West.
