Her Community and Workers Action Group joined People Before Profit in 2007, and Collins was re-elected as a local councillor under their banner in 2009. During her tenure as a Councillor, she remained employed as a post office clerk.[4]
As a Councillor, Collins came to prominence on 27 January 2011, when she confronted Bertie Ahern on camera as he was being interviewed outside Leinster House, on the day Ahern retired from politics with a €150,000 a year pension as wages were being cut and taxes increased,[5][6] with Collins asking the former Taoiseach if he had "no shame" and "How dare you?" Ahern ignored her and dismissed her as someone who had approached him "to try get themselves on television and radio", though Collins later said she had not seen the television cameras.[4] She released a video in which she stated she had been annoyed by "the smug smile on his face and the way he was waffling on as if he hadn't got a care in the world".[7] A year later she said she did not regret her action against Ahern, and said that Fianna Fáil had not approached her about the incident since her election to the Dáil.[8]
Dáil Éireann
Collins contested the 2011 general election for the United Left Alliance,[9] taking 12.9% of the first preference vote. She was elected on the final count without reaching the quota.[10][11] She said the election should have been a referendum on the Finance Bill.[12] In March 2011, due to the dual mandate rule, she was replaced on Dublin City Council by her party colleague Pat Dunne.[13]
Collins committed to facilitating the nomination of Senator David Norris for a place on the ballot paper ahead of the 2011 presidential election. She said that the people of Ireland should be allowed to decide Norris's suitability for the role.[14] On 20 September 2011, she confirmed she had signed the relevant papers.[15]
In December 2011, she described the proposed household charge being brought in as part of the 2012 Irish budget as a "Trojan Horse".[16] On 15 December 2011, she helped launch a nationwide campaign against the proposed household charge.[17] In February 2012, she accompanied a collection of housing groups to Mountrath, County Laois, who successfully prevented the deputy sheriff and gardaí from evicting a man from his home.[18][19][20] The man was ultimately evicted two weeks later, an action which Collins strongly condemned.[21]
In December 2012, Collins named crime journalist Paul Williams and sports star Ronan O'Gara under Dáil privilege as being among those to benefit from having their penalty points cancelled by gardaí. Justice Minister Alan Shatter called Collins's action a "total disgrace" and she was reported to the Dáil Committee on Procedure and Privileges.[22][23]
In April 2013, along with Clare Daly, she founded a new political party called United Left.[24] As of December 2015, United Left was no longer on the register of political parties.[25]
^"Fianna Fáil will not back Áras candidate". RTÉ News. 20 September 2011. Separately, People Before Profit TD Joan Collins and Independent Catherine Murphy confirmed that they have signed nomination papers for Independent Senator David Norris. Ms Collins said she had taken the decision on "democratic grounds" and that "the people should have the choice." Ms Murphy said that she had signed the papers "to ensure that (Senator Norris) can be judged not by fellow politicians but by the people of Ireland."
^O'Connell served as Ceann Comhairle in the 22nd and 23rd Dáil from 1981 to 1983 and was returned automatically at the February 1982 and November 1982 general elections. He joined Fianna Fáil in January 1985.
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