Mick Barry

Mick Barry (born 17 September 1964) is an Irish People Before Profit–Solidarity politician who was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork North-Central constituency from 2016 to 2024.

According to the Irish Examiner, Barry was "a leading figure in the Cork and national campaigns" against household and water charges in the 2010s.

Personal life Barry was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1964. His family returned to Ireland in 1971 when he was 8 years old, and moved to Rathfarnham in Dublin. Barry moved to Cork city in 1991 and has remained a resident ever since, living in the suburb of Blackpool. He also stood as a candidate in the Cork North-Central constituency at the 2002, 2007 and 2011 general elections.

In the 2010s Barry campaigned on a number of issues locally and nationally, notably the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign with the Householders Against Service Charges (HASC) in Cork, In support of local services in the Cork area such as the cutbacks in bus services, and against the building of a private hospital on the public grounds of Cork University Hospital, and social housing. He called for a ban on home repossessions and considered a controversial Gateway employment scheme to be "slave labour". He called for standing orders to be suspended and proposed a motion condemning the jailing of five activists opposing a proposed tax on water.

2016 to 2024: Dáil Éireann A founding member of the Anti-Austerity Alliance (AAA), Barry was elected for the AAA–PBP group, at the 2016 general election, on his fourth attempt. At the 2020 general election, he was re-elected as a Solidarity–People Before Profit TD.

He lost his seat by 39 votes (revised from 35 following a partial recount) to Labour candidate Eoghan Kenny in count 17 of the 2024 general election. Under the provisions of the Electoral Act, 1992, Barry requested a recount, though later withdrew the request. Constituency boundary changes prior to the 2024 election moved Mallow, Kenny's hometown, from Cork East to Cork North-Central.