Former Social Democrats co-leaders Catherine Murphy and Róisín Shortall will not contest general election

Former Social Democrats co-leaders Catherine Murphy and Róisín Shortall have announced they will step down at the next general election.

The two made the announcement on Tuesday morning, saying it was “time for a new generation to take over.”

“I love my job and have always had a deep passion for my work and tackling the many pressing social, environmental, economic and governmental issues we still face,” said Ms Murphy, a TD for North Kildare.

“It has been such a privilege to work in politics alongside colleagues who have shared my energy, commitment and vision for the future. It has also been my absolute honour to represent the people of Kildare North and I want to thank them for their continued support for so many years.”

“While I am bowing out of representational politics, I will continue to work in whatever way I can to support Holly Cairns and the next generation in Kildare and elsewhere, in advocating for and delivering on a social democratic future.”

Róisín Shortall said she has been “a TD for Dublin North West for almost 32 years and am very proud to have had the opportunity to serve the public in that role.

“Representing my constituents and actively contributing to public debate on national issues have been my priorities as a TD. I have a strong belief in the power of politics as a force for good. Politics has enormous potential to make people’s lives better and to create a fairer and more progressive country. I have worked in furtherance of those goals over the course of my career.”

Party leader Holly Cairns paid tribute to Ms Shortall and Ms Murphy and said that “having built the party from nothing” they helped it grow to where it is now, having six TDs and 35 councillors. “Catherine and Róisín are stepping back from frontline politics, but they leave behind a party with strong roots, huge promise and great potential.”

The departure of both women will leave a major vacuum for the party both in Ms Shortall’s constituency of Dublin North West and Ms Murphy’s constituency of Kildare North.

In Dublin North West, councillor Mary Callaghan was recently re-elected in last month’s local elections, and could represent an option in the next general election. The Social Democrats also enjoyed success on Kildare County Council, taking an extra three seats to give the party seven sitting councillors.

A party source said that while Rory Hearne – who was the party’s candidate for Midlands North West in the European elections – could be an option for the Dáil, members are very keen to see a selection convention take place. This could instead favour one or more of the seven sitting councillors, with some pushback within the party to the idea of Mr Hearne being the presumed replacement.

Ms Murphy’s full-time political career began when she became a member of the Workers’ Party on Kildare County Council in 1991, though she had been involved in local action campaigns since 1983. She represented Democratic Left and the Labour Party before becoming an Independent.

She had planned to stand for Labour in 2002, but withdrew in the face of opposition from sitting TD Emmet Stagg and what she said was a written promise of a nomination for the Seanad elections, which did not materialise. Following a further row over the selection of candidates for the local elections, she left the Labour Party in June 2003.

She was first elected to the Dáil in March 2005 in the byelection to replace departing EU commissioner Fianna Fail’s Charlie McCreevy. She lost the seat in 2007 and regained it 2011. Born in Dublin, she lives in Leixlip with husband Derek Murphy. They have two children, a son and a daughter.

In July 2015, she jointly founded the Social Democrats along with Ms Shortall and Stephen Donnelly, now Minister for Health and a Fianna Fáil TD.

After Mr Donnelly left, she ran the party with Ms Shortall until February 2023 after the pair said it was the right time to “hand over the reins” to a new leader. Shortly afterwards, Ms Cairns was appointed leader.

They previously faced calls for a leadership contest from some Social Democrats members and councillors in 2021. However, they received the backing of all of the party’s TDs at the time and a draft letter that was circulated by the activists was never sent to party headquarters.

Ms Murphy has a prominent national media profile thanks to her work on the Public Accounts Committee. Her previous disclosures in the Dáil about the dealings between the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, the former Anglo Irish Bank, and Siteserv, a company sold to businessman Denis O’Brien, further raised her profile.

Ms Shortall (70) was one of the Labour TDs who swept in to the Dáil on the “Spring tide” in 1992 and has been a high-profile TD since then. She made her first electoral breakthrough in 1991 when she was elected to Dublin Corporation.

She started the Dáil term in 2011 as a Labour minister of state for health but she ended the five years estranged from Labour and in opposition; she then became a founding member of the Social Democrats, which she co-lead alongside Ms Murphy until February 2023.

Ms Shortall’s profile was further boosted by her work to reform the health service, having chaired the Oireachtas Committee that devised the Sláintecare plan.

Speaking on Tuesday, she said she was proud of this work. Sláintecare is “the plan for an entirely new approach to health and social care in Ireland. This cross-party plan is for a single tier universal health service where people can access care based on their health need rather than their ability to pay”, she said.

“Sláintecare is now the official health policy for our country and while there is still work to be done on its full implementation, very significant progress has been made. Sláintecare has enormous potential to address the shocking inequality which has been a feature of our health and social care service for far too long.”

Ms Shortall, a former primary school teacher, is married with three daughters. Born and reared in Drumcondra, Shortall attended Dominican College, Eccles Street and then UCD where she graduated with a BA in economics and politics.