Number of migrant candidates running in local election hits record high

The number of candidates from a migrant background running for local elections has hit a record high. 

That's according to the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI), which revealed over 100 candidates from a migrant background are running in the upcoming elections on June 7. 

One in twenty candidates (or 5%) of all candidates have migrant backgrounds, with migrant women accounting for the majority of candidates at 55% (a significant increase from 45% in 2019). 

Notably, 81% of the candidates are contesting their first elections in 2024. 

Twenty seven out of 31 local authorities have candidates from these backgrounds running, compared to 24 in 2019. 

Commenting on the news, Migrant Political Participation Coordinator, Teresa Buczkowska, said "Our work on supporting democratic inclusion of migrant communities isn’t only focusing on the election season.

"Following our research, we know that migrant candidates experience additional barriers during their campaign. We are working all year round to political participation programs and we advocate for policy changes to mediate some of those barriers." 

Since 2016, the ICI has been providing resources to migrants interested in entering politics.

She continued, "Although this year we see a record high number of migrant candidates there is still need for further support to close the gap to democratic participation.

"One in eight (12%) of people living in Ireland are migrants however only 1 in 20 (5%) of candidates are migrants, meaning our democracy is still not fully representative."

The ICI has also been delivering voter education workshops around the country, with over 20 sessions completed in the last six weeks.

Integration Manager at the ICI, Valeria Aquino, said, "Irish democracy has been recognised globally as one of the most inclusive. As an organsation, we take pride that we contributed to Ireland becoming a world leader in this area. 

"In the past decade, we have built our expertise and established best practices in mobilising migrant communities to participate in Irish electoral politics. We are happy to see that our work is bringing results, and the participation of migrant communities is growing." 

Last week, the Dáil Taskforce on Safe Participation in Political Life report was launched. 

According to the ICI, "the findings of the report reflected the reality that candidates and politicians from a migrant background, particularly women, face considerable abuse and intimidation from small sections of the Irish public, both online and while campaigning".  

CEO of the ICI, Brian Killoran, said, "Our work in the area democratic participation has never been more important, when many political decisions about the future of migrant communities in Ireland are effectively being made without their participation and inclusion. 

"Migrants are members of our democracy, they contribute to our economy as well as our cultural lives and it a matter of equality and fairness that their voices and experiences are represented at the decision-making level, both locally and nationally."