BACIK’S LONG, SLOW RISE TO POWER

1980S STUDENT QUEEN

Ivana Bacik first came to attention in the culture wars of the 1980s, after anti-abortion group SPUC took her to court for providing abortion information. It looked as if the student activist would be a TD in no time – not quite, as it happened.

1997 AND 2002 EARLY RUNS

She cut her political teeth running for the Trinity Seanad seat but was outmuscled twice by David Norris and Shane Ross.

2004 EUROPEAN ALSO-RAN

She fared equally badly when she ran for Europe on the Labour ticket in 2004, when the veteran Proinsias de Rossa gobbled her and Labour up.

2007 THIRD TIME’S A CHARM

In 2007, on her fourth election attempt, she was successful and took the third Seanad Trinity seat.

2009 DUBLIN CENTRAL DEFEAT

Despite the implosion of the Bertie machine, Ms Bacik took only 17% of first-preference votes in the Tony Gregory by-election.

2011 FALTERING GILMORE GALE

In 2011 she was seen as a certainty in the rather more upmarket Dún Laoghaire constituency, with running mate Eamon Gilmore. But the Gilmore gale ran out of puff and she lost out to Richard Boyd Barrett by an agonising 147 votes.

2011, 2016 AND 2020 A FOREVER HOME?

Ms Bacik was re-elected to the Seanad in 2011, 2016 and 2020, after which she became deputy leader of the Seanad.

2021 DUBLIN BAY WATCH

Ms Bacik surprised everyone, especially Fine Gael, by winning the by-election.

2022 LOVE’S LABOUR FOUND

After emerging from a relatively bloodless coup against Alan Kelly, Labour will be praying Ms Bacik can hold her recent momentum.