Labour Party Councillor Martina Genockey has resigned from the party after calling for debate on the leadership of Brendan Howlin.

Councillor Genockey had been selected to run for the party as a Dublin South West candidate in the next general election.

In a letter to the party this evening she said she no longer feels like the party is a “place I wish to be.”

“While I feel as strongly as ever about my politics and how important it is to eradicated poverty and disadvantage in our society – I no longer think that the Labour Party in its current form is the place to achieve these aims,” she said.

The Tallaght native was one of 14 Labour councillors who called for a meeting with Deputy Howlin over the summer to discuss his leadership and the future of the party.

“To me, politics should be about communities, ideas and activism,” she wrote in her letter.

“It should not be about personalities, personal ambition and privilege.

“Speaking out recently about the change that I see is needed in the party has opened up my mind about the party and led me to feeling that it is a place I no longer wish to be.”

She said she will remain a non-party councillor until the local elections next year – but will not be seeking re-election after that.