Election 2020: Bríd Smith (People Before Profit-Solidarity)

Bríd Smith (62) was one of the high-profile People Before Profit-Solidarity first-time TDs in the 32nd Dáil, a vocal pro-choice campaigner for the Repeal of the Eighth Amendment. She was elected on the second count in the 2020 general election, benefiting hugely from Sinn Féin candidate Aengus Ó Snodaigh’s surplus after he topped the poll on the first count.

During a debate around Ireland’s abortion laws, she produced a packet of abortion pills during a Dáil speech, and on another occasion wore a black Repeal jumper in the chamber.

Smith proposed the Climate Emergency Bill, which would ban oil and gas exploration and passed in the Dáil, and received international attention, but was later blocked by a Government “money message”.

She first ran for the Dáil in 1997 for the Social Workers Party, and unsuccessfully stood in the 2014 European elections, splitting the radical left vote with then-sitting MEP Paul Murphy, who ended up losing his seat. She was also heavily involved in the campaign against domestic water charges.