‘My dad moved to this country and decided to serve people’ – father-and-son duo Baby and Britto Pereppadan elected in Tallaght

The older Mr Pereppadan has only one piece of advice for his son: “Britto was always happy to come into politics. Now that he has made it, I want him to know that it comes with more responsibilities. Now that we both have this platform, there’s a lot we need to give back to the public.”

Britto (24), who is in his second year as a doctor at Tallaght University Hospital, said: “My biggest inspiration in politics is my dad. He moved to this country and decided to serve people. When he ran for the first time in in 2009, I was just 10. I don’t think I knew what I was doing but I remember helping him hand out leaflets and knock on doors.

“I was much older when he ran again 2019 and it really sparked that interest in me. It made me feel like I could also dedicate my life to helping the people in our area.”

Baby Pereppadan, who moved to Ireland nearly 24 years ago from Kerala in India, ran for the first time in 2009 as an Independent candidate. That year, he missed out by 65 votes.

He said: “I moved to Ireland in 2001 to join my wife who had moved to Ireland as a nurse. We moved here on a dependant visa and Britto was just one when we arrived. I had no experience with politics in my own country, but I was always a politics buff, reading up on it whenever I could.

“I joined Fine Gael in 2014 because I was inspired by former MEP and junior finance minister Brian Hayes, who encouraged me to run. I worked as a distributor with a company back then and I worked with a lot of Irish people. I asked them if they would support me if I were to run for elections, and they said they would no matter what.

“Fine Gael hadn’t won for 20 years in Tallaght South and I was able to get them that seat. They’ve always showed me support for that. When it comes to immigration, I don’t think there’s any other party in Ireland who supports non-nationals as much as Fine Gael.

“This is now my third time and I have to say, I’ve gotten the best response from the Irish people. I have faced with some racism and issues during the campaign when people would rip my posters or damage them. But when I win, I have felt nothing but the overwhelming support from the people of Tallaght South.”

The father-and-son duo hope to answer to the people who voted for them by focusing on their main concerns – safety, housing and infrastructure.

“I knew that things weren’t going to be easy because I’ve seen my dad work as councillor for the last five years. I’ve learnt a lot through him and I knew that going into this. I have a clear understanding of what’s required for the role of councillor and what my responsibilities would be. So I knew what I was getting into going into this thanks to dad,” Britto added.