Dublin candidate chosen
Aengus O Snodaigh has been chosen as the Sinn Féin candidate for Dublin South Central in the forthcoming by-election. Nominated by local party representatives Brian Kenna and Ken Fitzgerald, he was unanimously chosen at a recent election convention to stand for the party.
Aengus works for Bord na Gaeilge and is a SIPTU shop steward. He is married to Aisling O Dálaigh, from Crumlin, and the couple have two young sons, Ferghal and Lorcan.
energetic Sinn Féin and community campaigner, Aengus is a native Irish language speaker who played Gaelic football and rugby at club level. The author of our regular Remembering the Past column, Aengus has authored a number of republican publications and has also written for many other newspapers and magazines, including the Sunday Business Post.
A former student union activist, Aengus has a long history of community involvement, from the rallies against Dublin Corporation's ``municipal vandalism'' at the historic Wood Quay Viking site to the anti-drugs protests throughout the 1980s and today. He is the author of Sinn Féin's policy document on drugs, ``Empowering Communities''.
Aengus is a key figure in the Irish Peace Process and has spoken for Sinn Féin in Britain and mainland Europe.
He has identified inequality in society as his main election platform:
``I believe that TDs should stop lecturing people on how they must tighten their belts while those in high places are cheating the PAYE worker and every family in this country. TDs are elected to serve the people, not help themselves. We need TDs who give practical help to grassroots community groups, families and individuals to lead worthwhile lives.
``People deserve the chance to raise their kids in an area free from crime and drugs, with properly resourced schools, a transport system that helps people move and the city breathe, hospitals where nurses aren't worked to exhaustion, and full social supports for the long-term unemployed, families in need, people with disabilities and Old Age Pensioners.''
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