Cllr Aidan Farrelly selected as Soc Democrats' candidate for Kildare North

Cllr Aidan Farrelly has been selected by the Social Democrats to represent the party in Kildare North in the forthcoming General Election. This follows the decision by party co-founder and former co-leader Catherine Murphy to stand down as a TD after more than 30 years in public life.

Speaking after the selection convention, Cllr Farrelly said: “I’m honoured and delighted to have been selected by the party. I have big shoes to fill following Catherine's exceptional service to her constituents. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the campaign, and I hope voters will again select a Social Democrat to represent them in Kildare North.

"Public services in Kildare North lag far behind where they need to be, given the development we have seen in recent decades. Housing is unaffordable. There is a shortage of everything from school places to mental health services to leisure facilities. Families can't get childcare places, and garda numbers are too low for our population. If elected, I will make a fair allocation of resources and services a priority in Leinster House."

Welcoming his selection, Catherine Murphy TD, said: “I am delighted that we have a candidate of the calibre of Aidan to run for the Social Democrats in Kildare North. If elected, he will be an incredible representative for the people of this constituency.

“Aidan is one of the most ethical and hard-working people I’ve come across in politics – and he will be a great advocate for the change that we need in Kildare and in Ireland."

Aidan Farrelly is a second term county councillor and represents the Clane Local Electoral Area. He was selected to run by the local branch at a selection convention in Ardclough Community Centre last night (Wednesday, July 24).

Cllr Farrelly grew up in Clane and lives in Prosperous. He is a lecturer in the department of Applied Social Studies in Maynooth University. He is a former Youth and Community Development worker and Team Leader with Kildare Youth Services, and opened the first Youth Project in Clane in 2008. Since then he has worked in many communities throughout Kildare including Naas, Celbridge, Kilcock, Leixlip, Straffan, Maynooth, Prosperous and others. He is married with three children.