Social Democrats to hold leadership election as Murphy and Shortall step down

Catherine Murphy and Róisín Shortall have announced they are stepping down as co-leaders of the Social Democrats.

Ms Shortall said she and Ms Murphy had decided that “the time is right, now, to hand over the leadership reins of the party to the next generation of Social Democrats”.

The pair said they were taking the decision to step down to allow a successor time to prepare for upcoming elections and rejected any suggestion they had been asked to make way for a new leader.

They have asked the party’s national executive to meet on Thursday evening to make arrangements for an early leadership election. Nominations are expected to be open for a maximum of two weeks.

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Ms Shortall said neither of them was leaving politics but they will be “fully supporting and assisting” the new leader or “leaders” in their work. Both confirmed their intention to contest the next general election.

None of the party’s other four TDs: Holly Cairns, Gary Gannon, Jennifer Whitmore and Cian O’Callaghan —who were all present at the press conference — confirmed whether or not they will be throwing their hat into the ring. Mr Gannon is expected to signal his intentions on Thursday.

Cork South-West TD Ms Cairns was asked about an Irish Examiner report that she is expected to be the next leader unopposed.

She replied: “Today is about Catherine and Róisín. We’re not thinking about that today. We’re thinking about them and the amazing work they’ve done.”

Ms Shortall added: “The Examiner only heard about [the leadership election] this two hours ago as well.”

[ Analysis: Social Democrats finally deal with the leadership question ]

Ms Murphy, a Kildare North TD, co-founded the party with Dublin North-West deputy Ms Shortall in 2015, along with Stephen Donnelly, now Minister for Health and a Fianna Fáil TD.

The pair are both former Labour Party members though they had both left and were Independent TDs at the time the Social Democrats was established.

They have consistently downplayed any prospect of a merger with the Labour Party.

Asked if there is now an opportunity to rethink this position, Ms Murphy replied: “The last thing we need is less choice in politics.”

She added that it was not just her and Ms Shortall that “get annoyed” about the question of merging with Labour.

“The TDs will tell you and the councillors will tell you — it’s exactly the same thing — there isn’t an appetite for that,” she said.

Asked if they would both expect a successor to rule out a merger with Labour, Ms Shortall replied: “We won’t pre-empt what a successor would do. But I would be surprised if it was otherwise let’s say.”

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 spoke of the founding of the Social Democrats in 2015. “Today the party is strong and I think a significant presence in politics and by now I’m sure you know the Social Democrats are here to stay,” she said.

The co-leaders are “immensely proud of our TDs”, she added.

Ms Shortall said their decision to step down is “not only about the future of the Social Democrats but, critically, it is about the contribution that the party can make to the future of our country. Both Catherine and I are making this decision with no reservations. We know that whichever TD takes over the leadership … the party will be in safe hands.”

She said a change “will herald a new stage of development”.

On the question of timing regarding their decision, Ms Shortall said they had been thinking about it “for many months” to decide an “optimum time”.

She said the local elections will be in 15 months’ time and “who knows when the general election will be. We want to ensure that whoever succeeds us as party later would have time to bed in and get established … the timing is good from that point of view.”

Ms Murphy insisted there was no other reason for their departure.

Asked to confirm that at no point were they asked by their parliamentary party colleagues to consider their positions, Ms Murphy replied: “We can totally confirm that.”

Ms Shortall added: “Or anyone else for that matter.”