O'Brien has been a Wicklow county councillor since 2019, and is the current Cathaoirleach. He is the former national president of the Irish Soccer Referees Society, and the chairperson of the body's Wicklow branch. He is also a Peace Commissioner.

I decided to run in this election for a number of reasons. The south of the new Wicklow constituency has had no representation from Wicklow Town for over 27 years. I believe representation should be spread across the county and not just centred around the north. Secondly, the lack of investment in the south is really showing and the lack of interest by our current crop of TDs is evident.

The amount of young hard-working people not being able to afford to purchase or indeed rent a property. We have a huge shortage in the workforce and because of the lack of affordable homes we are forcing our highly-educated young people into emigrating for a better life.

I would speak about the lack of investment and interest shown in the southern part of the constituency. We have the main train line from Rosslare to Dublin about to fall into the sea north of Wicklow Town and a road network clogged with traffic everyday. We are building homes that are not affordable for local people and we have a deficit in local infrastructure in terms of transport, education and sport – all of which need to be addressed immediately.