People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith has announced she will retire from politics at the next general election, having served two terms in the Dáil.
The 61-year-old is a former trade unionist and veteran of many campaigns organised by People Before Profit and the Socialist Workers Party over the past three decades, including those against bin and water charges.
First elected to Dublin City Council representing Ballyfermot in 2009, Ms Smith ran unsuccessfully for Dáil Éireann on three occasions before winning a seat in Dublin South Central in the 2016. She retained the seat in 2020 on the back of huge transfers from Sinn Féin poll topper Aengus Ó Snodaigh.
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“I’m not hanging up my boots by any manner or means,” Ms Smith said as she announced her intention on Monday. “I still have a lot of collateral damage to do within this Dáil, and once it passes, I will still be a fighting socialist within the community.”
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Ms Smith’s colleague Richard Boyd Barret TD said the Dublin South Central deputy has been “a tremendous activist for many years”. “She’s been a model socialist since she has been elected to the Dáil,” he said.
When asked how long she had been thinking about stepping down, Ms Smith joked: “Seven years”.
“I don’t know how to answer this question,” she laughed, “but probably very long.”
Highs and lows
Speaking about highs and lows in her political career, Ms Smith said she considered the repeal of the Eighth Amendment, broadening abortion rights, as a significant achievement, having campaigned on the issue for decades.
She also said she was “very proud of what was achieved regarding water charges” and of her work on the Oireachtas committee on climate change.
The low points, she added jokingly, had been “every other day”. She said she has been disappointed by the way the Government has dealt with the review of abortion legislation.
“The review was part of the legislation, but it seems like they’re doing nothing about it,” she said. “I’m going to keep pushing for that”.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Ms Smith said she would be focusing on “building an anti-racist movement across the country” after leaving the Dáil and that she was looking forward to having “a different rhythm” in her daily life.
‘Dynamic’
People Before Profit has already announced that Ballyfermot councillor Hazel de Nortúin is to be Ms Smith’s successor in the constituency.
“I’ll be out there fighting with her, promoting her and making sure she wins the seat next time around,” Ms Smith said, adding that Ms De Nortúin was “a dynamic working-class mother who already made quite an impact as a councillor”.
Ms De Nortúin said she was “excited” to run in the next election but was “trying not to think too far ahead in case I get overwhelmed”.
“It’s important to have that working class voice in politics, so it’s too important an opportunity to miss out on,” she said, adding that Ms Smith had been “an inspiration to be working with for over 10 years.”
