Ellen Murphy has worked previously as a trade union organiser. She prioritises affordable housing, supports for children with special needs, public transport, and increased investment in public spaces.

Housing. I am one of those half a million people back in my childhood bedroom because I cannot afford a home in the community I grew up in. So many of us are locked out of owning a home, and increasingly faced with just two options - living with our parents indefinitely or emigrating to a country where we can afford to live. This is as a direct result of governments policies which have turned housing into a commodity. The starkest and most shameful example of this failed approach is our record homelessness figures.

Special needs education services, housing or climate action.

Improving services for children with additional needs and disabilities is my primary reason for running. We have some of the longest waiting lists for assessment of need and Children’s Disability Network Teams in the country, while SNAs and in-school support are scarce. Children who need these supports are being utterly failed by the State, and successive governments have not gotten to grips with this escalating crisis. We, in the Social Democrats, have a credible plan to end the long waiting lists and remove barriers to services, which, after all, should be a right not a luxury.