Cork Sinn Féin TD: 'There were seats left behind the last time and we won’t repeat that’

Give Sinn Féin its “chance to lead the next government” was the appeal from the party’s general election candidates as they launched their campaigns in Cork North Central and South Central in recent days.

The party’s two sitting TDs each have a running mate, with Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire and Michelle Cowhey Shahid to run in South Central and Thomas Gould and Joe Lynch running in North Central.

The extra candidates are important, with Mr Ó Laoghaire saying: “There was seats that we left behind last time, and we’re determined not to repeat that.”

They will be taking “no seats for granted,” he added.

Mr Gould told The Echo: “We believe that we can work with people like Social Democrats, People Before Profit, maybe Labour and the Greens – anyone who believes in social justice, solving the climate crisis, cost of living, health and housing.

“We know Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael can’t fix these issues, things are getting worse - we’d like to work with likeminded parties who believe in looking out for ordinary workers.”

Appeal 

Mr Lynch said: “Our appeal to every voter in Cork is to give Sinn Féin our chance to lead the next government, and then judge us from how we perform – Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have had over a century of chances and they’ve squandered them all, let people down again and again.”

Ms Cowhey Shahid added that if the party were to get into government: “We’ll be ready from day one to make changes and implement our plans to improve lives”.

While acknowledging a poll slump for the party of late, disappointing local elections, and recent scandals dominating headlines, they remained optimistic.

Mr Ó Laoghaire said: “We are going into this election on better polling numbers than the last one, and our job now is to convince people on the doors that another government can do better than the current one,” adding that he has seen an improvement in feedback in recent weeks.