Apart from the support he enjoys within the north inner city, he is also likely to mop up some of the votes that Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is expected to lose, along with other ‘anti-establishment’ votes.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has reacted to the news that Gerry Hutch plans to run for election in her constituency.
Hutch last night confirmed he will contest this month’s General Election, after exclusively telling the Sunday World he is ‘the people’s choice’.
‘The Monk’ is due to fly into Dublin on Monday from his home in Lanzarote and will lodge his electoral papers to put himself forward to run in the Dublin Central constituency.
“I am running,” he confirmed last night. “I will be a candidate in Dublin Central and I will be the people’s choice. They have asked me to run, so I am running.”
Hutch has just been released on €100,000 bail from a Lanzarote prison after being arrested as part of a money-laundering investigation. The veteran criminal remains under investigation there, while the Hutch Organised Crime Gang (OCG) is a target of a number of different garda units here.
However ‘The Monk’, seen as the patriarch of the Hutch OCG, has had no convictions for crime since the 1980s and was acquitted of the Regency Hotel murder of David Byrne by the Special Criminal Court last year.
Now, he is planning to run a social media campaign due to ongoing concerns over his security and is expected to issue regular video and poster updates on his run for the Dáil.
Gerry Hutch
Hutch has been planning his Dáil run for months and has assembled a secretive campaign team who have identified prospective voters.
Apart from the support he enjoys within the north inner city, he is also likely to mop up some of the votes that Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is expected to lose, along with other ‘anti-establishment’ votes.
The other high-profile politicians standing in the area include Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe, Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats and the Green Party’s Neasa Hourigan.
At a Save Moore Street campaign event in Dublin on Sunday, Ms McDonald was asked whether she was worried about Hutch running in her constituency.
“Look, anybody can run in the election, that is their prerogative, that’s a matter for himself,” Ms McDonald said.
“I’m running with my running mate, Councillor Janice Boylan. This election is about changing the government and we’ll be inviting people to vote for Sinn Féin to change the Government, that’s where my head and my focus is at.”