Niamh Fennell’s vacant seat in South Dublin County Council chamber (Inset): Councillor Niamh Fennell announced today she will be stepping down from her role
Sinn Féin councillor steps down to focus on new adventure
Councillor Niamh Fennell has stepped down from her role in South Dublin County Council following “months of careful consideration and long and hard conversations”.
The Sinn Féin Councillor first ran for election in 2024 and spent much of her time working to help young people in the Palmerstown/Fonthill area to which she was elected.
“I ran for election in 2024 with the hope of helping my community and trying to make it a better place to live, which I feel I have done in numerous ways and for many people. There have been some success stories and many more challenging ones. However, I am proud of what I have achieved to date” she said.
Cllr Fennell thanked her fellow Sinn Féin councillors, William Carey, Louise Dunne, Niamh Whelan and Róisín Mannion, as well as the people her voted her into the SDCC.
She described her reason to step down as one motivated by “many reasons, some personal and some political, I’ve decided on a new adventure, a new challenge and somewhere with a little bit more hope.”
Cllr Fennell has decided to make the move to Australia “for work, for a future, for a home and for a better lifestyle.”
She compared her move to that of one experienced by hordes of young Irish people today, who feel forced to set up a life elsewhere due to the cost of living and housing crises
“I’ve made the choice along with thousands of other to go, to leave behind the beautiful island I call home, with the hopes of starting a life I deserve elsewhere. This has not been an easy choice and I’ve done all I could to try and make things work here.”
She said she hopes to one day be able to return to Ireland, but is unsure when that might be.
