National Youth Council nominee Fintan Warfield tops poll in Seanad election for Sinn Féin

FINTAN WARFIELD has been the first Sinn Féin senator to be elected in the new Oireachtas term.

Nominated by the National Youth Council of Ireland and the Genealogical Society of Ireland for the Culture & Education Panel, the talented traditional musician and Chairperson of the Civic Theatre in Tallaght said he is immensely proud to have topped the poll.

He is also a well-known LGBT campaigner.

A former Mayor of South Dublin, in 2014, Fintan he became the youngest Mayor of a local authority in Ireland at the age of just 22.

Hearing the news that he was the first senator to be elected on Monday, he said that to have been elected on the centenary of the 1916 Rising “is a massive honour and privilege and I look forward to working with the rest of my colleagues in Leinster House to fight for the type of change promised in the Proclamation”.

“As a young person involved in the arts and an LGBT activist, I will be a progressive voice on these issues in the Seanad. I hope that in the coming days I will be joined in the Seanad by an enlarged Sinn Féin team.”

Remaining results are due on Monday and Tuesday but could run over.

Prior to his election, Fintan said:

“I believe in using every available forum to make social and political change for those whose interests continue to be under-represented.

“It is not lost on me that I argued for abolition just three years ago. Citizens, however, voted for a radically-reformed Seanad.

“Standing by and allowing the continued under-representation of the most vulnerable and disenfranchised is not an option for Sinn Féin.

“Nor is it an option for young people, the LGBT+ community, or the arts.

“Seanad reform will be a top priority for the Sinn Féin team, including a demand for direct election by way of universal franchise of all Irish citizens on the same day as the Dáil election, 50% female representation, as well as Northern, Diaspora and minority representation.”