RUTH COPPINGER WILL be nominated by the Anti-Austerity Alliance/People Before Profit for Taoiseach tomorrow.

The Dublin West TD will be the first woman to be nominated for the position.

Speaking this evening, Coppinger said the AAA-PBP are nominating her as a candidate who will “stand politically opposed to the establishment and other parties”.

“We want to act as a clear, left, socialist voice for workers and the oppressed in society who are suffering from the effects of the crises in housing and health, and to outline the alternative to the failed policies of the 1%.”

Coppinger said it is “fitting” she is the first woman to stand for the position at a time when the country is dealing with “the feminisation of poverty” due to cutbacks, and calls for the Eighth Amendment to be repealed.

The vote will take place in the Dáil tomorrow. A similar vote on 10 March saw Fine Gael’s Enda Kenny, Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin, Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams and PBP’s Richard Boyd-Barrett all fail to be elected.

Since then talks about forming a new government have intensified between various parties and groups, but the outcome of negotiations remains unclear.