The mother of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, a nine-year-old boy who died after waiting a number of years for spinal surgery, could be selected by Sinn Féin to run in the Dublin Central byelection.
Gillian Sherratt is among potential candidates whose names may go forward to contest an upcoming Sinn Féin selection convention in the constituency where the party’s sitting TD is leader Mary Lou McDonald.
A vacancy in Dublin Central arose after Fine Gael TD Paschal Donohoe resigned his seat in November to take a new job at the World Bank in Washington DC.
Harvey, who had scoliosis and other health issues, died in July after waiting a number of years for surgery.
Sherratt and her husband, Stephen Morrison, who are from Clondalkin, have met senior Government figures in recent months as they participated in a campaign along with advocacy groups for a public inquiry on care of children with scoliosis and spina bifida.
In November, Minster for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill brought a memo to Cabinet on proceeding with a statutory public inquiry into spina bifida and complex scoliosis services and it was approved. The terms of reference for the inquiry are to be finalised after a time-bound scoping exercise.
The Sunday Times reported on Sherratt’s possible byelection run for Sinn Féin in an election that is likely to be held in April or May.
Sherratt, who is a member of Sinn Féin, declined to comment when contacted by The Irish Times.
A Sinn Féin spokesman said that a date for the Dublin Central selection convention is yet to be set.
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Sinn Féin councillor Janice Boylan, who was McDonald’s running mate in the 2024 general election, confirmed she was aware of Sherratt’s potential candidacy while expressing an interest in putting her own name forward.
Boylan, a North Inner City-based councillor, said the selection convention has not taken place yet and added “my name is in the mix. I’m still putting myself forward to the membership”.
Another Sinn Féin councillor in the constituency, Cabra-Glasnevin-based Séamus McGrattan, said: “There’s been lots of talks around different candidates.”
He said he has not yet made a decision on whether he will put his own name forward but “I’ll talk to my Cumann [local party branch]”.
Candidates selected by other parties to contest the byelection so far are councillor Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats and folk musician and People Before Profit activist Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin.
Anti-immigration Independent councillor Malachy Steenson has also announced his intention to contest the byelection.
Senator Mary Fitzpatrick and councillor John Stephens have both been linked to a possible byelection run for Fianna Fáil while current Dublin Lord Mayor Ray McAdam has been tipped as Fine Gael’s possible candidate.
The Irish Times previously reported that gardaí believe veteran criminal figure Gerry ‘The monk’ Hutch will run in the Dáil byelection. Hutch missed out on a seat in the constituency in the 2024 general election.