Shortall and Murphy stand down as joint leaders of Social Democrats

The co-leaders of the Social Democrats, Roisin Shortall and Catherine Murphy have announced they are to stand down.

The women said that they had spent many months considering stepping aside, but had decided now was the right time to allow for their successor to “put their own print” on the party before an election.

They remained coy on who their successor could be; Ms Murphy said it would be “inappropriate” to comment.

Both veteran politicians said that they plan to contest the next general election.

Addressing a packed conference room, Ms Shortall said: “As the Social Democrats continue to develop and grow, Catherine and I have decided that the time is right now to hand over the leadership reins of the party to the next generation of Social Democrats.

“We have, therefore, notified our national executive that we are stepping down as joint leaders and we have requested that they make the arrangements for the election of a new leader.

“We expect this will take place at an early date.

“Obviously, this is a very big decision for Catherine and myself, but it is also a big decision for the party.

“We are taking that advice; advice which we so often give to government, advice that planning for the future is absolutely essential.”

The national executive of the party has been notified, which will decide how long nominations for the leadership will remain open for – Ms Shortall suggested that it would be a maximum of two weeks.

When asked about whether the leadership would remain shared, Ms Shortall said it would be up to the parliamentary party.

“We actually found the joint leadership to be very, very good,” Ms Shortall said, particularly as a political party grappling with the challenges of establishing itself.

“It works very well certainly for the start-up phase, so we’ll see what is decided over the coming days.”

Commenting on the timing of the announcement, Ms Shortall said: “It takes a while to come to a decision that you want to change and that now is the right time for that change, so it’s not something you do overnight.

“The other thing is, in terms of the electoral cycle, the local elections will be in 15 months’ time. Who knows when there will be a general election, so we wanted to ensure that whoever succeeds us as party leader would have time to bed in and get established and get to travel the country and meet the various branches, and put their own print on the Social Democrats.”

Ms Murphy added: “That is the absolute main reason – because of the timing.”

Drawing on a football analogy, she said that there are “leadership positions all over the pitch”, and that there are still aspects of the party they would hope to add to.

Ms Shortall said that the party “is in a very good place” and “things are going well for us”.

“It is an exciting time for the party. We’re very much looking forward to the next phase which will bring new ideas and new approaches, and that’s really important – nothing stays static.”

Ms Shortall said: “Catherine and I are making this decision with no reservations. We know that whichever TD takes over the leadership of the party, that the party will be in safe hands.

“While we are a relatively new party, the change in leadership will herald a new stage of development for the party, and we are really excited about that. And just to be clear, I’m happy to confirm that neither of us is leaving politics.

“It has been a huge privilege to be actively involved in politics, leading a party that has grown from an idea that first started at my kitchen table to the cohesive, united and growing party that you see today.”

When asked about an Irish Examiner report that Cork TD Holly Cairns will become the next leader, Ms Shortall said that it was premature to speculate.

The four other members of the parliamentary party were present as the announcement was made and the outgoing co-leaders were given bouquets of flowers after the press announcement.

On Twitter, Ms Cairns paid tribute to their “incredible hard work”, while fellow Social Democrat TD Gary Gannon described them as “exemplary” leaders.

Kildare North TD Murphy and Dublin North-West TD Shortall have been co-leaders of the party since July 2015.

The current health minister Stephen Donnelly had also served as co-leader of the party before quitting to become an independent in September 2016 and joining Fianna Fail months later.

The Social Democrats currently have six TDs in the Dail, and garnered around 2.9% of first preference votes in the 2020 general election.

They won a similar amount of first preference votes in the local elections.

The latest opinion polls put the party at around 4%.