Eoin Ó Broin selected to contest Dún Laoghaire

dublin | politics / elections | press release Wednesday December 13, 2006 19:37 by Eoin Ó Broin - Sinn Féin eoinobroin at hotmail dot com

Sinn Féin has selected Eoin Ó Broin to contest the Dún Laoghaire constituency in the forthcoming Leinster House election. Eoin Ó Broin, a native of Cabinteely and Blackrock, is the party's Director of European Affairs and a former member of Belfast City Council. The convention took place at the Kingston Hotel, Dún Laoghaire.

Eoin Ó Broin

In his address to the selection convention Ó Broin laid out his vision of the type of Ireland Sinn Féin wants to see. He said:

"People are entitled to a decent health service, a decent education, a decent home that doesn't cost the earth, a decent job with good pay and working conditions, and a decent standard of living and quality of life. These entitlements are not part of today's Ireland, but they can and should be. They are rights that Sinn Féin would deliver in government.

"One of Sinn Féin's priorities is the provision of social housing. Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council are the worst council in the state for providing social housing with 3,519 households now on the waiting list while at the same time huge housing developments are being built throughout the borough. This means that young people are being forced out of the area when it comes to getting a home. We want to see this changed. We want to see a timetabled plan to eliminate the housing list and we want to see the council stop allowing property developers buying their way of out providing affordable housing.

"The attendance at our convention reflects the mood of confidence and determination among our party members across this constituency. We have re-built the party and are now in the position of challenging the old political establishment in this constituency. We in Sinn Féin will work tirelessly in the coming months to provide the alternative that many people are crying out for."ENDS

Eoin O'Broin - Profile

Eoin Ó Broin is a native of Cabinteely and Blackrock. Educated at Blackrock College, Dublin and Crown Woods Comprehensive, London, he holds a degree in Cultural Studies from East London University, an MA in Irish Politics from Queens University Belfast and is currently completing a second MA in International Relations in Dublin City University. Eoin has lived and worked in Belfast since 1995 and recently returned to live in Dun Laoghaire.

Eoin has worked full time for Sinn Féin for eleven years. From 1997 to 1999 he was the National Organiser for Ógra Shinn Féin. From 2001 to 2004 he represented the Old Park electoral district on Belfast City Council. Since 2004 Eoin has held the position of Director of European Affairs, coordinating Sinn Féin's team in the European Parliament, the party's political relationships with political parties across Europe and coordinating Sinn Féin's lobby operation in Britain. Eoin is a member of the party's Ard Comhairle.

Eoin is also a published author. His first book 'Matxinada' Basque Nationalism and Radical Basque Youth Movements was published in English in 2004 and in Spanish in 2005. His second book, Sinn Féin and the Politics of Left Republicanism will be published by Pluto Press in 2007. Eoin is also the editor of Left Republican Review.