Sinn Féin selects Tralee candidates

Sinn Féin in Kerry has chosen two candidates to run for the Tralee area of Kerry County Council and three candidates for Tralee Town Council in next June's local elections.

Sitting Councillor Toiréasa Ní Fhearaíosa (23), who took over from her father, Martin Ferris last September, will be joined in the County Council campaign by Tralee woman Maisie Houlihan (53), from the Strand Road area of the town.

Delegates from all over the Tralee area met earlier this month at the Earl of Desmond Hotel to come up with a strategy that would give Sinn Féin a maximum chance of electing candidates. The decision to run two women for Kerry County Council will be seen as a big step towards addressing the massive gender imbalance on the council.

Houlihan was also selected to run for Tralee Town Council, along with current town councillors Cathal Foley and Risteárd Ó Fuaráin, who received unanimous support from the convention.

Martin Ferris TD said at the meeting that he had no doubt that Sinn Féin would win every seat it contested both in the County Council and Tralee Town Council. He gave a very warm welcome to Maisie Houlihan, who he said was "a republican all her life" who will "receive massive support throughout the town".