Conor Burke has been selected as Solidarity's candidate for the Galway City East ward in next May's Local Elections to the Galway City Council. His campaign will focus on housing, homelessness, inequality, and mental health.
Mr Burke is no stranger to the political scene in Galway, having run in the last local election and was Solidarity's general election and referendum coordinator for Galway. He is also a long-time member of the Socialist Party and founding member of Solidarity (formerly the Anti Austerity Alliance ) which grew out of the property tax campaign and a successful anti-water charges movement. He was also involved in many grassroots campaigns such as marriage equality and the repeal of the Eighth Amendment.
Speaking about his campaign he said, "There are too many people suffering from a system that rewards exploitation and inequality. We have seen the rise of Trump in the US, Bolsanaro in Brazil, and even the likes of Peter Casey here in Ireland, who seek to exploit people's frustration with the political and economic system by sowing division between different sections of society, placing the blame on migrants, refugees, or Travellers, religion, sexuality, gender, and so on.
"These right wing figures have no answers and no solutions. They are part of the same establishment, they benefit from keeping things exactly the way they are. Solidarity's election campaign will focus on unity and common struggle, working together with communities and oppressed sections of society to challenge the exploiters and the purveyors of inequality in oppression."
