People Before Profit are set to run a candidate in the Laois constituency for the upcoming General Election.
Ken Mooney, 23, from Mountrath, has been selected to represent the party here, with the election set to take place on November 29.
Mr Mooney is a Politics graduate from University of Limerick, and it was during his time in Limerick that he decided to join People Before Profit.
“I joined the party when I had just turned 20,” the Mountrath man told LaoisToday.
“At the time, I was in college, living down in Limerick in a house, that to be quite honest, you wouldn’t put a dog in.
“It was a devastating situation, and I was paying premium prices – €600 per month – and I saw how there was just a complete lack of housing.
“We’ve had this housing crisis since I was a child, and I realised the Government can do something about but they aren’t doing anything about it.
“I’ve always been politically aware, but I started seriously looking at getting involved in a party that actually fights for young people, that actually cares about the housing crisis, cares about the cost of living crisis. People Before Profit are the only party that is doing that.”
Mr Mooney completed his Masters degree earlier this year. During his time under UL he was part of the Student Union where he was involved in campaigns for causes including Palestine, Yemen, housing, minimum wage increases, and carer supports.
People Before Profit ran Stephen Tynan as a candidate in Laois/Offaly in the 2020 General Election, the party’s first time on the ballot here.
Mr Tynan, from Portlaoise, finished with 2,273 votes and was eliminated on the fourth count.
But Mr Mooney told LaoisToday he believes it is possible for he and his party to capture a seat in the General Election.
“There’s a viable seat for us in Laois; there’s a viable seat for us everywhere if people get out and vote – that’s the reality,” he said.
“We have seats already in Dublin. And we don’t just sit in Dáil Éireann like some of the others, when we run, we’re running for the people.
“What I’m doing is providing a vote for people in Laois who are fed up with the system, who are fed up with how things are run.
“There’s a vote there – people can vote for me, they can vote for a socialist; that opportunity to vote for someone different is there.”
People Before Profit currently have four sitting TDs: party leader, Richard Boyd Barrett, Bríd Smith, Gino Kenny, and former MEP Paul Murphy; all in Dublin constituencies.
Mr Mooney said: “People know that when our TDs get elected, they won’t just sit up in Dáil Éireann and you won’t hear from them until the next election.
“They’re always out, they’re always campaigning, they’re standing side-by-side on the streets with everyone fighting. That’s how we do politics differently.”
As well as Laois the party have recently announced candidates who will be running in the General Election in Offaly, Longford-Westmeath, Louth, Kerry, Waterford and other constituencies.
“We need to fight for a vision for real change,” Mr Mooney said.
“We’ve had 100 years of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in power, in some form or another; that needs to change.
“People Before Profit are the only party who have decisively ruled out coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. We are the only party who have done that.
“We need a Government that’s actually going to provide affordable housing. The cost of living crisis is out of control – people are being gouged; and it’s not the millionaires and billionaires, it’s ordinary people.”
Mr Mooney joins a growing number of candidates throwing their hats into the ring in Laois from right across the political spectrum.
The other candidates are Willie Aird (Fine Gael), Sean Fleming TD (Fianna Fáil), Mary Hand (Aontú), Maria McCormack (Sinn Féin), Aisling Moran (Independent), Elaine Mullally (Independent ), Rosie Palmer (Green Party) and Brian Stanley TD (Independent).
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