Galway City Councillor Catherine Connolly has announced her intention to run in the next General Election in the Galway West constituency.
Cllr Connolly made the announcement on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Iris Aniar programme.
Ms Connolly was born and raised in Shantalla in Galway city and is a practising barrister.
She was elected to the City Council for the first time in 1999 in what was the West Ward of the city, and was elected in the South Ward of the city in 2004.
She was a member of the Labour Party for many years until she left in 2006. She was re-elected in 2009 as an Independent Councillor for Galway City West.
In the interview, Cllr Connolly spoke of her anger and frustration at the closure of 105 beds in Merlin Park Hospital in Galway, the waiting list of 25,000 people in the Regional Hospital, and of the Government's ongoing push towards privatisation of the health system.
Cllr Connolly has been a member of the Regional Health Forum, West, since 2006.
