Sinn Féin has selected three candidates to contest the local elections in Galway City next year.

Two former city councillors, Cathal Ó Conchúir and Mark Lohan, will contest the City West and City Central Wards respectively, while Aisling Burke will stand for the party in Galway City East.

Mark Lohan is Chair of Galway Sinn Féin Comhairle Ceantair and an active SIPTU Official in Galway. He previously served on Galway City Council from 2017 until 2019.

He is a well know advocate for social and economic justice across Galway where he serves as a Peace Commissioner. As a trade union leader, he has advanced workers’ rights and as the Irish Congress of Trade Unions member of the city housing committee, he speaks out for inclusion and fairness.

He was the author of a 2018 motion on the building of affordable homes in Galway City, but has pointed out that under the tenure of the current city councillors, not a single one has been built.

Mr Lohan said he wants to serve on the City Council in order to change Galway for the better.

Cathal Ó Conchúir is a retired secondary school teacher who was also a councillor between 2014 and 2019. He is a fluent Irish speaker and taught for many years in the Jes. He is active in the community and on the officer board of the Galway City West Sinn Féin Cumann.

Aisling Burke as a first-time candidate and a long-term party member. She lives in Ballybane.

She said that as a mother of two, she understands the challenges that families face in the east side as well as their opportunities. Her work as a manager of a designated centre for young adults with ASD and intellectual disabilities has spurred her passion to advocate for greater respite services across Galway.

A party spokesperson said: “This mixture of both youth and experience is what Galway City needs over the next few years and the Sinn Féin team will bring much needed dynamism to the City Council as the party believes that housing in Galway requires urgent attention as a social need and for Galway’s competitiveness as a city.”

Pictured at the Sinn Féin selection convention for Galway City were: Mark Lohan, Aisling Burke, Deputy Mairéad Farrell, Cathal Ó Conchúir and Deputy Maurice Quinlivan