Saoirse McHugh to return to politics as an Independent candidate in European elections

The rise of the far right is the biggest change in politics in the last five years. We have people setting fire to buildings to stop people living in them. And there are a lot of people out there who are giving a lot of cover to this and I think it's really dangerous.

But one thing I have learned since first entering politics is that social media is not reality. If you get out and knock on doors, the vast majority of people are sound, they want to get on with their neighbors and community.

Up until now, the EU has been hands-off on the housing crisis and said this 'isn't an EU competency,' but on the other hand, a lot of the spending rules come from the EU and affect how much governments can spend on things like social housing. The EU needs to pull up its sleeves because it is a crisis across the EU.

I suppose it was me not wanting to be very public again and I suppose maybe I am talking primarily about social media. It will be a hard few weeks. I have had to leave my job. It's a big gamble. It's a big risk. But in the end I had a vision of a Europe and an Ireland that I think will resonate with a lot of people and I figured I may as well give people the chance to vote for that.

Read at Irish Independent