Who is running for election in Waterford?

The General Election has been announced for Friday, November 29 and prospective candidates across Waterford will be anxiously preparing their nominations papers in the hopes of making it onto the ballot. So, who is running for election in Waterford?

So far, there are eleven politicians who have announced themselves as candidates in the General Election including all four encumbent TDs - with more expected before the cutoff date, midday on the seventh day after the election is officially called.

In the 2020 General Election, Sinn Féin's David Cullinane topped the poll by a colossal margin of nearly 14,000 votes. Deputy Cullinane was first elected to the Dáil in 2016 after beginning his political career as a local councillor in the now-defunct Waterford City constituency. He then spent five years in the Seanad before rising to the higher parliament on his fourth attempt. Deputy Cullinane's rousing success four years ago has prompted Sinn Féin to run a second candidate in Waterford.

Conor McGuiness is that second candidate, a Councillor in the Dungarvan-Lismore ward, he is differentiating himself from his party colleague by positioning as a TD for west Waterford. Cllr McGuinness, who initially joined the party through Ógra Shinn Féin in 2001, has been one of the most vocal local councillors since getting the position.

Minister of State Mary Butler will be the only Fianna Fáil candidate this year, after receiving the second most first-preference votes in 2020. A cancer survivor, she was appointed as a Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for Mental Health and Older People. Minister Butler recently said she "would not be deterred" from running in the election after her constituency office was vandalised.

Deputy Matt Shanahan, part of the Independent Regional Group of TDs, received the third most first preference votes in 2020. Deputy Shanahan was seen as a single-issue candidate - the hospital candidate - due to his focus on political issues surrounding University Hospital Waterford. During his term, the TD has also worked on issues of Waterford Airport and expanding SETU.

The Green Party's Marc Ó Cathasaigh was the final candidate to be elected in 2020 after he received a surge of transfers from the People Before Profit candidate on the 6th count. Deputy Ó Cathasaigh was made the Green Party whip in 2020.

Senator John Cummins is the sole Fine Gael candidate running in the election after the party narrowly lost out in 2020 after running two candidates. Like most politicians, the Senator started his career in local politics, he was elected to Waterford City Council in 2009, before becoming the youngest-ever Mayor of Waterford in 2013; at the age of 25. The son of former Senator Maurice Cummins, he is seeking to go one step further and get elected to the Dáil.

Councillor Mary Roche will be the candidate of the Social Democrats. She is the former Mayor of Waterford City and is currently a Councillor for Waterford City East. She joined the Social Democrats in 2020 after spending nearly 20 years as an independent member of Waterford City and County Council. She only joined the party recently and credited Róisín Shorthall and Catherine Murphy as her inspirations to join.

The Labour Party candidate is Sadhbh O'Neill, an environmental activist and former Irish Times columnist. The former Green Party Councillor was first elected to a public position in 1991 while she was a student in Trinity College Dublin. She was elected to Dublin City Council and held the position until 1996. Since then, O’Neill has been a regular contributor to the Irish Times opinion and science pages, while working in climate policy at DCU and engaging in environmental activism. O’Neill most recently ran for election in the 2022 Seanad Bye-election when she was eliminated on the 11th count after receiving 6.5 per cent of first preference votes.

Patrick Curtin will represent People Before Profit in the general election. He was the first-ever President of SETUSU for the Waterford Campus,  and the former Chair of WIT Ógra Shinn Féin. Mr Curtin ran unsuccessfully in the recent local elections in the Waterford City South constituency receiving 133 first preference votes, 1.8% of the vote.

Housing and anti-racism activist Killian Mangan is running as an in Independent, having previously represented Rabharta in local elections earlier this year. He is best-known for his work as a communications officer for CATU Waterford and in anti-racist coalition 'Waterford For All'.

Portlaw native Frank Conway unsuccessfully ran in the local elections as an Independent candidate this year. He has worked as a lecturer of economics and finance at SETU Waterford since 2002.

Raised in Tramore, John D Walsh is running with the Irish People Party. He previously ran in the 2016 General Election and has a Masters Degree in Politics from UCC.

Independent candidate Melissa O’Neill is a former Sinn Fein councillor who served in the Piltown LEA of Kilkenny County Council. She was expelled from the party in 2019 and subsequently ran for the Dáil with the Irish Freedom Party in 2020.

Born in London, Dr Ronan Cleary has worked his entire adult life in Ireland as a GP and is Chair of Doctors for Life. He previously ran in the 2020 general election and 2024 local elections.