Adrian Kavanagh, first posted 5th January 2026 – updated 3rd March 2026
This post will list all the officially selected/declared candidates for the upcoming Galway West and Dublin Central by-elections, which will take place at some stage in Spring/early Summer 2026.
As of this point in time, 9 candidates have been selected to contest the Galway West by-election, or have declared their intention to contest this, and 4 (44.4%) of these are women and 5 (55.6%) are men. 4 (44.4%) of the candidates currently hold electoral office – 1 (11.1%) previously held electoral office.
As of this point in time, 9 candidates have been selected to contest the Dublin Central by-election, or have declared their intention to contest this, and 3 (33.3%) of these are women and 6 (766.7%) are men. 4 (44.4%) of the candidates currently hold electoral office
The list of selected/declared candidates for the Galway West and Dublin Central by-election contests includes:
| Party/Grouping | Dublin Central | Galway West |
| Fianna Fáil | ||
| Sinn Féin | Cllr. Janice Boylan | |
| Fine Gael | Sen. Seán Kyne | |
| Labour Party | Ruth O’Dea | Cllr. Helen Ogbu |
| Social Democrats | Cllr. Danel Ennis | Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich |
| Independent Ireland | Cllr. Noel Thomas | |
| People Before Profit-Solidarity | Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin | Denman Rooke |
| Aontú | Ian Noel Smyth | Orla Nugent |
| Green Party | Cllr. Janet Horner | Niall Murphy (ex Cllr) |
| Irish Freedom Party | ||
| The Irish People | ||
| National Party | ||
| Ireland First | Paul Fitzsimons | |
| Independents 4 Change | ||
| Independents | Cllr. Malachy Steenson Gerry Hutch | Cllr. Tom Welby Sheila Garrity |
A report in the Galway Advertiser (12 February 2026) noted that Cllr. Mike Cubbard (Independent) was likely to contest the election, but had not finally decided to do so. It also reported that Senator Sean Kyne and Cllr. Eddie Hoare had both announced their intention to contest the Fine Gael selection convention on 22 February. Sandra Hurley for the RTÉ News website (12 February 2026) confirmed that the Fine Gael selection convention would also be contested by Eoghan Gallagher, a former President of Young Fine Gael. The convention was not contested by Cllr. Hoare, in the end, and Seán Kyne won a vote over Eoghan Gallagher to win the party nomination.
Christina Finn on TheJournal.ie (24 February 2026) notes that Cllr. Janice Boylan and Gillian Sherratt are to contest the Sinn Féin selection convention for Dublin Central on 25 February (Cllr. Janice Boylan won the vote at the convention), while the Labour Party convention for Dublin Central was scheduled to take place in early March and to be contested by Joanna Siewierska and Ruth O’Dea; Ruth O’Dea was selected at this convention, which took place on 2 March.
Irish Elections: Geography, Facts and Analyses 