Dáil General Election Profile: Seán Crowe TD, Dublin South-West

Seán Crowe is TD for Dublin South-West and is the party’s spokesperson on Science and Education and Community Affairs. As well as being a leading figure in Youth Against H-Block during the 1980/81 Hunger Strike, in the early days of the Peace Process, Seán was the head of the Sinn Féin mission to the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation at Dublin Castle. Seán also represented the party in the multi-party negotiations that led up to the Good Friday Agreement.

The single event or issue which has influenced me most in becoming a political activist has been...
The Hunger Strikes of 1980 and 1981.

The person who has inspired me the most is...
The hunger strikers: Bobby Sands, Francis Hughes, Raymond McCreesh, Martin Hurson, Joe McDonnell, Patsy O’Hara, Kieran Doherty, Thomas McElwee, Mickey Devine and Kevin Lynch. The enormity of what they and their families sacrificed speaks for itself.

I think people in power should pay more attention to...
The marginalised and those left behind by the Celtic Tiger. All the boats haven’t risen: some are in dry-dock and more and more are languishing at the bottom of the sea bed.

If there was one thing I could get done in Dublin South-West overnight it would be to...
To eliminate poverty, starting particularly with child poverty. It could be done with a fraction of the election tax giveaways promised by the Establishment parties during this election.

The six famous people I think would be interesting guests at a dinner party would be...
Nelson Mandela and Bobby Ballagh, for a whole range of reasons; Conor Cruise O’Brien and Bernard Ingham (Margaret Thatcher’s press secretary), for controversy; Brush Shiels, for a bit of craic; and Perry Como to end the night with a few calming notes to send us all to bed with.

My most memorable TV programme...
When the Boat Comes In. It was a 1970s drama set amid all the political upheaval after the First World War and the struggle to establish the trade union movement in the Geordie mining areas of north-east England.
One character, Jack Ford, joins the Auxiliaries or Black and Tans in Ireland. He goes into a pub with his drunken comrades and they hassle this young woman, forcing her up onto a table and ordering her to sing a song for their enjoyment. The locals watch in fear. Summoning up amazing dignity, the woman – in a haunting voice akin to Frances Black – stirs the locals’ hearts with The Bold Fenian Men. Needless to say, the Tans realise they can’t beat the Irish.

My favourite musicians are...
Singer-songwriter Janis Ian and a song called Jesse. And welcome back, Moving Hearts.

In another life, I would probably...
Be working in a select cabaret lounge, singing Perry Como songs really badly but the tone-deaf audience would still love it! A bit like our party fund-raiser, ‘The SF Factor’, in Ballyfermot a few weeks ago where I was robbed by local Shinners who voted more than once for my arch-rival, ‘Elvis Safety Pin’  Ó Snodaigh.