Folk singer and musician Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, who was recently announced as the recipient of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil singer award and also received two RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards in February, will launch his campaign for election to Dublin City Council this week. Ó Ceannabháin is the People Before Profit candidate for Dublin North Inner City. His campaign launch and concert will take place at the Grand Social on Thursday 18 April.

Ó Ceannabháin has been involved in a number of social and political campaigns in recent years and played a key part in the movement to save the Cobblestone traditional music pub in Smithfield from being part demolished to make way for a hotel. At the RTÉ Folk Awards earlier this year, he used his acceptance speech to highlight the crisis in Gaza.

A psychology graduate from Trinity College Dublin, Ó Ceannabháin has also been involved in campaigns around housing, the climate crisis, healthcare, anti-racism, women’s rights and LGBT+ rights.

Writing on his campaign fundraiser page, he said:

I am running for election because I am fed up of seeing people around me struggle with exorbitant rents, with the threat of eviction, with no possibility of ever owning a home.

I am deeply worried about the climate and biodiversity crisis and our Government’s policies around it, which punish ordinary people, let major polluters off the hook, and come nowhere close to what we need to actually tackle the crisis.

I also want to see a community where people can thrive and explore their own creativity. I am very concerned with the loss of cultural space in the city and the lack of working class access to creative outlets.

Ó Ceannabháin says that if elected he will focus on public housing and public services in particular.

There are seven seats available in the Dublin North Inner City electoral area, six of which are currently held by Councillors Janice Boylan (Sinn Féin), Christy Burke (Independent), Deborah Byrne (Labour), Janet Horner (Green Party), Ray McAdam (Fine Gael) and Nial Ring (Independent). The elections take place on 7 June.

The launch and concert at the Grand Social will feature Eva Carroll, Méabh Mulligan, Saltaire, Varo, Ispíní na hÉireann and more. Tickets are available from www.thegrandsocial.ie.

Subscribe to our newsletter.