Julie O’Leary added as Fine Gael candidate in Cork North Central

The Fine Gael Executive Council has agreed on the addition of Julie O’Leary as a candidate in the Cork North Central constituency for the next General Election.

Julie O’Leary, is a barrister and lecturer in University College Cork, will be running for election alongside her colleague, Senator Colm Burke.

Ms O’Leary today (Thursday) said: “I’m delighted to be joining the Fine Gael team in Cork North Central for the next General Election.

“Cork needs strong energetic representation over the next number of years as we see a huge increase in development and population growth in the city and county. I want to see a real push on tackling the need for more housing and reforming regulation of the rental sector to improve life for tenants.

“We need to push for more of a focus on cycling and public transport in our city as it grows, to avoid the problems we see in Dublin.

“As a lawyer I work every day with vulnerable people who often have trouble accessing services they need. As an election candidate and politician I particularly want to advocate that people with disabilities or mental health difficulties will be able to access resources swiftly and easily”.

“I’m looking forward to the campaign and to meeting as many people as possible over the coming months,” Ms O’Leary said.

Senator Burke said: “As the Fine Gael candidate selected at the Cork North Central convention, I welcome the executive council’s decision to add Julie as a second candidate. Our task now is to maximise the Fine Gael vote and bring the best possible return for the party in the area.”

Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central Dara Murphy said, “I warmly congratulate Julie as a Fine Gael candidate in the next General Election. I got to know her very well over the last number of years after she ran an excellent campaign at short notice in the last General Election.

“Julie is a young and well educated professional and exemplifies the quality of candidate that Fine Gael is continuing to attract,” Deputy Murphy said.

Ms O’Leary is a 28-year-old barrister working in Cork City and living on the Lee Road, Cork. She lectures in the Department of Government and the School of Applied Social Studies in UCC. She campaigned with Together for Yes in the lead up to the recent referendum.

Ms O’Leary is a voluntary director on the Board of the Mardyke Arena and is on the Board of Management of St. Marie of the Isles Primary School. She first ran for election in Cork North Central in 2016, when she was the last candidate eliminated.