Change starts here – Tosaíonn athrú anseo

The launch of Sinn Féin’s candidates for the upcoming local, EU and Mayoral elections was held on 28 April in Dublin’s Helix theatre. The sunny day was in sync with the mood of the hundreds of Sinn Féin candidates and supporters who attended the event.  

We cover the keynote address of Mary Lou McDonald, along with reports from the canvass provided by EU candidate Kathleen Funchion who is running in Ireland South, Maria Doherty on the election trail from Milford, Donegal, and Kevin O’Hara who is running in Conamara South, Galway.

The first step to getting this disastrous government out of office

The campaign launch marked the largest ever number of election candidates fielded by Sinn Féin. Party President Mary Lou McDonald told the meeting that, “The number of candidates that Sinn Féin are running in the local elections is testament to our ambition to deliver change in each and every LEA across the state and to have representatives on every council after the local elections on June 7”.

Mary Lou joked with the audience that, since the 2020 Leinster House election, she had been inundated with advice on running enough candidates. She said, “People stopped me in the street, at matches, concerts, shouted it to me from car windows, stopped me in the supermarket. I couldn’t buy a sliced pan without someone saying it to me. So, to you all I now present Sinn Féin’s record number of candidates.”

Turning to the serious work that Sinn Fein councillors will take on, McDonald said, “We want councils to deliver for communities on housing, on planning and on delivering better local services”.

She said that, “I am very proud of all those candidates who are going forward to stand for Sinn Féin in this election. Leaders in their own community they bring with them a wealth of experience and a real commitment to deliver change for communities. We have many first-time candidates, including teachers, carers, community workers, young people going forward driven by the desire to make change happen.”

McDonald said that, “We are determined to elect the strongest possible team of Sinn Féin councillors to work with a Sinn Féin led government after the next general election delivering the largest social and affordable home building programme in the history of the state.

“We are running a strong team of candidates in the European election who bring formidable track records on working hard to deliver change. Maurice Quinlivan is contesting the Limerick Mayoral election to be a voice for all the people of Limerick and unlock the potential for the city and county to thrive.

“Voting for Sinn Féin in this election is the first step to getting this disastrous government out of office. What we are saying to people clearly is change starts with the local and European elections. If you want change, vote for it in the European elections, in the local elections and in the General Election when it comes.

“We are the party of change. Change that means a roof over your head, a secure affordable home. Change that means being able to see a doctor when you are sick, getting the right care, in the right place, at the right time. A future where life is affordable, where a job provides a decent living, and when you can retire at 65 with your pension. Change that means safe communities, strong communities built from the grassroots up. Sinn Féin wants a government, a society that has the backs of ordinary people.”

A time of huge potential and opportunity for Ireland

By Kathleen Funchion

These elections are taking place at a time when Ireland is facing many challenges; a persistent housing crisis, a health service at breaking point, and a cost of living crisis. These elections are an opportunity for people to have their say on the change they want to see in their local community, throughout Ireland, and in Europe. 

We have a government that is out of touch, that doesn’t understand the challenges ordinary people are facing, lacks the vision and capacity to address them, and won’t stand up to the European Union when needed.

I am passionate about sorting out the housing crisis, standing up for communities, and addressing the climate crisis in a way that is fair and supports people who want to play their part, rather than punishing them. 

I am running in this election because I want to ensure the EU gets back to focusing on the things that matter to ordinary workers and families; the cost of living crisis, improving workers’ wages and conditions, and supporting, rather than hindering member states in addressing issues like the CAP, the future of family farms and fishing rights.

• Kathleen with Sinn Féin TD John Brady, canvassing in Wicklow

We need to send strong candidates to Europe who will protect Ireland’s voice and position, ending Ursula von der Leyen’s damaging leadership of the EU, and opposing the EU’s dangerous drift towards militarisation while defending Irish Neutrality. 

Ireland needs MEPs that put our fishing and farming industry back at the centre of EU negotiations, who don’t roll over when others attempt to weaken our voice or remove our veto on Foreign Affairs and Defence. 

I will work to ensure the EU is once again a voice for peace, for human rights, and is proactive on Irish Unity. This is a time of huge potential and opportunity for Ireland, a time of change. If you want change however, you have to vote for it in the local and European elections and in the General Election when it comes.

As a Sinn Féin elected representative for 15 years serving as councillor, TD and Oireachtas Committee Chair. As a mother of two and a former trade Union organiser, I feel I have the experience that is needed to ensure strong representation with the correct political values. I have always championed workers’ rights and prioritised our children’s futures.

We need representatives in Europe who are not afraid to put Irish interests first, who will work tirelessly to champion local communities and deliver the change that we need. Change starts on 7 June 7 with the European and local elections.

That means voting for Sinn Féin. Beidh guth láidir ag Kathleen ar son na hÉireann i bParlaimint na hEorpa. Vótáil Sinn Féin.

A fairer and stronger Ireland starts here

By Maria Doherty

I have had the honour of being selected to run for Sinn Féin in the Milford LEA, north Donegal. I stood in the 2019 election as a first time candidate and unfortunately did not get elected on that occasion. 

Undeterred, I have got more involved in my local community over the past five years, serving on boards of the local community development organisation, family resource centre, secondary school and Irish language organisation and got to see firsthand the amount of work being done and also the absolute need for more investment in rural Ireland.

I also have worked over the past five years with our local councillor Gerry Mac Monagle in Letterkenny and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD, making representations on behalf of constituents in the Milford Local Electoral Area. We canvassed continually over the last five years and have held a number of public meetings in each of our local areas to hear first-hand what the issues and concerns are in the community. 

• Carrigart canvass with Kate and Pádraig

By far, one of the single biggest issues facing the community is housing. With no houses to buy, to rent, to live in, it is having a huge effect on our community, and we also have the crisis that is the defective blocks issues in thousands of homes across this consistency and the county. 

So after what seems like a flash, here we are again on the campaign trail in the villages and townlands of north Donegal. I really enjoy canvassing and chatting to people and in particular rural canvasses as people are so warm and engaging.

I live in such a beautiful part of Donegal that the canvass will lead you in to what I call hidden parishes. One day you are in the mountains, navigating sheep on a farm, the next day on the beach front as we are a coastal community. It is such a treasure to discover all these hidden gems in my own community, and with our spectacular weather, which means lots of rain, it really never disappoints. 

• Na Dunaibh le Mary Lou

It is always such an honour for people to speak to you on their door step or in their farm yard and invite you into their home to tell your their thoughts or share with you an issue they may have and really for me that is what it is about. 

That is why I am a Sinn Féin candidate and have been a representative for the past five years, as I want to support them, the good and ordinary people of my community. I want to make their lives a little easier. I want to ensure that they get what they deserve and that I can with my Sinn Féin colleagues be an advocate for them. In essence, I firmly believe that our communities will be better off by electing a Sinn Féin candidate.

I am also part of a very large team of candidates in Donegal standing in this year’s local election. We are standing 18 candidates. Presently, we have 10 councillors on Donegal County Council out of 37. 

Local Government is hugely important as it is your first layer in a democracy and it is very connected with local communities. Therefore, having a strong Sinn Féin team of councillors is in my view one of the basic principles of having good and decent representation. 

I want to be part of a team of councillors that are an effective voice for change and an advocate for providing rural communities and in particular our Gaeltacht communities in which I live in with opportunities to develop and prosper with the same economic possibilities as the rest of the country.

With just weeks to go now until 7 June, it is getting very real and exciting and each and every canvass gives us an opportunity to engage with the community and let them know that there is an alternative and that we can build a better and fairer and stronger Ireland and that it starts right here in their own community by giving SF a chance in the local elections. 

Helping people and communities on the ground

By Kevin O’Hara 

I’m writing this on the ferry on the way to Árainn, Inis Mór which along with the other Aran islands comprise the offshore component of the South Conamara LEA. The LEA covers a varied area; stretching west from the boundary with Galway City all the way to Ceann Gólaim in Leitir Mealláin and curving south to include the Aran islands at the mouth of Galway Bay. 

As you can imagine the main issues being raised by people as we canvass are the same as everywhere else: housing, health, transport and the cost of living. Magnified in some cases by a fear that government mishandling of immigration will put further strain on the broken system and that the poor provision of services will deteriorate further. 

All of the LEA is in the Gaeltacht and that adds an extra element to the housing crisis locally, as the difficulty in finding homes and accommodation makes it harder for the next generation of Irish speakers to settle down in the area. 

There is a bitterness here, a belief that the State has no real interest in Conamara except to use it in tourism advertisements and to pay lip service to the Gaeltacht and to the Irish language. 

• Kevin O'Hara (right) with his canvas team on Inis Mór

I grew up in An Spidéal, moving there when I was twelve and at this stage 26 years on, in the tradition of rural Ireland almost a local but never quite. While I have always had a deep interest in republican politics I never thought that I would stand for election, but when a candidate was needed for the 2019 local election, I put my hand up. 

For me the 2019 local election campaign was an unsuccessful and rather bruising experience but following that we set about rebuilding locally with an eye on preparing for 2024. 

One of the main events to happen in the intervening period was the election of Galway West’s first Sinn Féin TD in almost 100 years. Having Mairéad as an elected TD in the area brought a level of support and access and has really helped to build the Sinn Féin profile in the area.

One of the most positive experiences I have had to date was very simple, somebody whom I had helped to apply for a warmer homes grant rang to thank me – the work had been carried out and he was delighted with the improvement to the house.

Something very simple, helping somebody to fill a form that helped them in a very real way. That to me is one of the reasons I am standing for election, to be able to assist people locally at a personal and a community level. The system can be very hard to navigate and it is important that local people and communities have a voice to represent and to advocate for them.

To me as a republican, helping people and communities is what it is about, by doing so on the ground, you are in a small way helping to make Irish society a little bit fairer and contributing to a Sinn Féin team that will hopefully in the future be in a position to bring real change. Ultimately it is only by doing so that we will have the trust and confidence of our communities to advocate for and to deliver a referendum vote for a United Ireland. 

At this stage as we near the business end of the local election campaign the work that we have done to build a Sinn Féin team in South Conamara can be seen in the strength and depth of our canvass team. To me it feels like we are nearing the end of a five year campaign, that we have been working on since 2019. I am really enjoying it but win or lose, it is time to see the results. 

Kevin O’Hara is the Sinn Féin local election candidate for South Conamara LEA

Blúiríní Beaga Gaeilge – Little nuggets of Gaeilge

Éire Aontaithe – A united Ireland

As part of our ongoing commitment to enhance Irish language use, we are including these Blúiríní Beaga Gaeilge – Little nuggets of Gaeilge. In this issue, we have articles about elections and a united Ireland. This issue’s nuggets offer some key phrases as Gaeilge that readers could substitute in conversation instead of the usual English. See how you go.

Use the nathanna cainte below to encourage your comrádaithe/comrades as we struggle on for a united Ireland.

Beir bua! – /behr boo-ah/ - Seize victory!

Mo cheol thú! - /muh khyole hoo/ - Bravo! (lit. ‘you are my music’) 

Fan inti! - /fohn ihn-tee/ - Keep going!

Dearna leat! - /dahr-neh lyaht/ - More power to you! 

Ardfhear | Ardbhean! - /awrd-ahr/ | /awrd-van/ - Good man/ good woman!