Dave Robbins Green Party

Twenty-three years working as a journalist with the Irish Independent sharpened Dave Robbins' political appetite but it wasn't until he left the newspaper (he's now a writer and stay-at-home dad to four-year-old Grace) that he became actively involved. He doesn't hail from a political family but he was good friends with Eamon Ryan in college. "I had the usual idea of the Greens as being a bit 'muesli and sandals' brigade but he was a bit different. He ran a green business [Ryan's Irish Cycling Safari company] and it just made me see that business and greens weren't mutually exclusive so that peaked my interest in the Green Party." Robbins decision to actually run for local government chimed in with a few things. He and his wife had endured fertility difficulties and it was an intense time when their focus was turned inwards and after Grace's birth, the delighted parents decided it was time to look outwards again and give something back. "Journalism can be quite a cynical world where you tend to be knocking things all the time," he says. "The Greens are quite idealistic and it was nice to be away from the cynicism for a change."

Robbins has been surprised by how polite and engaged people are when he's canvassing and also the positive reaction to the Greens. "I started last September so it was the first budget with the education cuts. I thought it would be a lot more negative than it was," he says. "I'm not spinning a line there. I actually thought we'd get a lot worse but I'm lucky in the constituency I'm in [Pembroke-Rathmines]. It's a very middle class constituency and possibly hasn't been as hard hit as others." There are no Green councillors at present and he says "Even if I don't get a seat, it will have been a great nine months and great experiences. If I get on, I'm looking at it as a period of my life – five years – that will have been worthwhile."

Rose Conway Walsh Sinn Féin

When Rose Conway Walsh attended a Mayo County Council meeting, and prior to standing for local election, the community development co-ordinator was struck by two things. One was the gender imbalance: of the 31 people there, only three were women. The other surprise, she says, was the quality of the debate taking place. "I expected it to be a lot more strategic, I didn't expect it to be a lot of county councillors standing up and saying the same thing. I expected there to be a real concentration on the issues, looking at it from a human rights perspective," she says.

"It just baffled me that there were people in and out of meetings with mobile phones. To me it seemed like nobody was listening to each other and it seemed a very strange way to conduct a meeting." The experience left her questioning the status quo. "There has never been a woman in the history of the state in this area that has run for local government and that raised big issues with me: do I buy into what's there or do I try and change it," she says. As she sat in the audience, she thought that she could do as good, if not better and she ran as the Sinn Féin candidate for the 2004 local elections, securing 12.5% of the vote and narrowly missing out on the fourth seat.

Conway-Walsh, who is married with two young sons, is the founder of the Sinn Féin Mayo Women's Movement, was attracted to Sinn Féin because she felt it was the party most aligned in terms of the empowerment of people. "They are working from a focus on the person and the person's needs rather than getting the person to fit into the system," she says. She was also drawn to the party's policies on privatisation and universal healthcare provisions and believes that their economic policies have been proven correct over the last 12 months.

Long term, where does she see her political career trajectory taking her? "If I was elected, my heart and soul would be in that. I don't look too much to the future and take every day as it comes. Anything is possible, I'd be open to anything but I haven't got any great aspirations."

Eoghan Murphy Fine Gael

Local government is extremely important but it's not working. as far as Fine Gael Pembroke-Rathmines candidate, Eoghan Murphy, can see. Communities are not being taken care of and the long tenure (five years) and level of commitment required (it's meant to be a part time position) is deterring people who would be useful from getting involved. "We need to get rid of career politicians at a local level and allow our TDs to work on national issues," Murphy thinks. The 26-year-old grew up on Sandymount Green and has worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and as a consultant on nuclear weapon disarmament, was most recently a speechwriter for a United Nations-affiliated agency in Vienna. But he always interested in the domestic political sphere and has now turned his attention to local politics full time, choosing Fine Gael because of what he perceived as the youth, vision and energy of the party, looking to party members such as Simon Coveney and Lucinda Creighton.

"It's the party of integrity, accountability, responsibility," he says. "I like their value base. No one talks about responsibility in this country any more." Murphy has found his campaign illuminating. "People want to talk and they want to be listened to but they're very much disenfranchised from politics in general, they feel let down by their politicians," he says of his canvassing experiences. Transport is one of his priorities, and he uses Vienna as an example of how it should be done. More green space is another ("We have a canal that we just don't use," he points out) as well as focusing on planning development and community services. The key message of his campaign is that it's time for a fresh approach and that by working on Dublin City Council, he'll start that approach from the bottom up.

Elena Secas Labour

On 5 April 2009 the Communist Party in Moldova won 49.48% of the votes, leading to claims by the opposition that that the elections were fraudulent. Widespread demonstrations ensued all over the country. Speaking about the civil unrest, the Labour candidate for Limerick East, Elena Secas, originally from Moldova and living here since 2001 says: "I did support the idea of demonstration for democracy and fairness but I did not support the violence used during them."

For now, her eye is on Irish local government and while some candidates profess to finding canvassing tough, Secas likes the meeting-and-greeting aspect of running for the council a great deal.

"It's very interesting and it's a good experience for me. I enjoy it," she says. "I get to meet people and talk to them, see what their concerns are and share ideas," she explains. Secas initially became interested in politics when she worked as a journalist in Moldova. When she moved to Ireland she chose Limerick because "it's a small and compact city", although it has a small Moldovan community in comparison with Dublin.

Married, with one child, she now works as an administrator and interpreter, as well as studying for a MA in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies in the University of Limerick. Why did she decide to join the Labour Party? "Because of its core values and because I was impressed with the local Labour TD, Jan O'Sullivan, and the way she approaches things."

The electoratein her area numbers 16,000 and Secas says her priorities, if she gets in, would be tackling anti-social behaviour, providing better facilities for both young and old, improving recreational facilities and better public services such as lighting and footpaths.

She's not thinking too far ahead and she's just concentrating on this election. "A few years ago, I wouldn't have thought that I'd run for the county council, but over the years, you change your mind about things."

Lisa Connell Independent

It's a Wednesday evening in Pantibar on Capel Street in Dublin, and a rather a-typical political fundraiser is taking place. Lisa Connell, a 26-year-old gay rights campaigner from Greencastle in Donegal is holding a table quiz with the assistance of Panti, the drag queen who runs the bar, and countless members of the gay community who are putting their cash behind Connell's local elections campaign. Connell is the co-founder of LGBT Noise, a group which (loudly) campaigns for gay marriage. She founded the organisation two years ago, and since then, the group have held countless colourful protests, rallies and fundraisers. Connell will run in the south-west inner city constituency in Dublin, an area with a large gay community as well as a strong working class and Muslim presence.

It was her father's idea to get political. "My dad was very supportive," she said, "he was saying that protesting is important but that I should try and start to change things from the inside. This year is very important both for government and specifically for gay marriage. It's really a crucial time." Incidentally, her father, Bartholomew, a former Garda, is also running in the upcoming elections over 150 miles way in their local town in Donegal.

Lisa Connell is running as an independent on a gay marriage platform. She's part of a new generation of young activists who believe the Civil Partnership Bill is discriminatory and redundant, and who are rallying and campaigning for full and equal rights. "Across the board, I believe in equality," Connell says, "I think social change doesn't just have to halt because of an economic downturn. People think gay marriage isn't an issue for the local elections, but I disagree. I think it is an issue for every gay person in the area, and for the families of gay people, and for the friends of gay people."

Shaheen Ahmed Fianna Fáil

Lucan, Palmerstown and Adamstown are three areas of Dublin which have experienced huge growth in the past decade. Given the racial and cultural diversity of the communities there, it is unsurprising that Fianna Fáil have themselves selected an immigrant to run in the region. Shaheen Ahmed moved to Ireland from Pakistan in 1981 via Germany. "Politics is in my blood," he said, having watched his father work in politics in Pakistan. Ahmed has been a prominent member of the Irish Muslim community for the past 20 years, having been a key player in establishing the Muslim National School of Ireland.

Aligning himself with Fianna Fáil was an obvious choice given his wife's family's strong support for the party, "As the largest and most successful political party in this state, I believe that Fianna Fáil offers me the opportunity to successfully campaign and lobby on the issues that matter for those who have voted for me," Ahmed said, "I offer them my 20 years of experience in terms of government and community relations and the opportunity to connect with a growing community in this state."

The key issues Ahmed is working on are education, traffic and transport, and anti-social behaviour, "I will fight for a School Building Programme to ensure that no child is left without a place in school. We need to improve school resources and facilities in the area. I will work to get children out of prefabs and into permanent structures. The education of our youth must be the foundation of our state and I will work to ensure that Lucan's schoolchildren do not become victims of economic circumstance," he says, "My campaign's key message is 'Education, Integration, Representation'."