Outgoing Sinn Féin Senator Kathryn Reilly feels ‘cast aside’

Outgoing Sinn Féin Senator Kathryn Reilly has said she feels “cast aside” by her party after defeated Donegal TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn was selected to contest the Seanad elections on her panel.

Ms Reilly (27), a Senator on the industrial and commercial panel since 2011, had hoped to secure a second Dáil seat for Sinn Féin in Cavan-Monaghan along with running mate Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin in the general election but was unsuccessful.

She then applied for a nomination to contest the Seanad elections again, but was informed last Friday that Sinn Féin’s Ard Comhairle had voted for Mr Mac Lochlainn as its candidate on the panel.

“You do feel cast aside. Not so much by the voters, but by the party,” she said.

Upset

Ms Reilly said no Sinn Féin TD or Senator had contacted her since, although she had received calls from party officials and press office staff.

“You put so much effort into trying to deliver for the party. When the phone stays silent it gives you a lot of time to think,” she said. “Do I feel upset that some people didn’t call me? Yes I am. I’m not bitter or put out, but I thought I might have got a few more calls than I did.

“I was not just a candidate, I was an outgoing Senator. Another phone call or two might have been warranted.”

From Ballyjamesduff in Co Cavan, Ms Reilly has worked in Leinster House for seven years, having previously worked for Sinn Féin’s former Louth TD and finance spokesman Arthur Morgan.

She has high praise for Mr Mac Lochlainn, describing him as “excellent and articulate”. He unexpectedly lost his Dáil seat in Donegal, where Sinn Féin adopted an ill-fated three-candidate strategy.

“When it came down to votes the party chose Pádraig over myself,” she said.

“I was informed by one of the people who works in the party last Friday that the Ard Comhairle hadn’t selected me.

“I didn’t hear from anyone again until Monday, when I happened to meet [fellow outgoing Senator] Trevor Ó Clochartaigh when I was clearing out my office.”

A Sinn Féin spokesman said the matter had been decided by the Ard Comhairle, “and unfortunately for Kathryn she didn’t get a nomination this time”.

However, he insisted Ms Reilly was “a valued member” of Sinn Féin. “There is a future for her in the party,” he added.

Sinn Féin has 23 TDs in the new Dáil and is running seven candidates in the upcoming Seanad election.

Sinn Féin’s seven Seanad candidates include Belfast councillor Niall Ó Donnghaile, a former Lord Mayor of the city, who is contesting the administrative panel.

Contesting

Mr Ó Clochartaigh from Galway and Rose Conway-Walsh from Mayo are contesting the agricultural panel. Also competing are Maire Devine from Dublin and Paul Garvan from Limerick (labour panel), Fintan Warfield from Dublin (cultural and educational panel) and Mr Mac Lochlainn (industrial and commercial).

Separately, the party has nominated Ciarán Staunton of Queens, New York as an Independent candidate on the industrial and commercial panel. Mr Staunton’s son Rory (12) died of sepsis in 2012 and Mr Staunton has campaigned for awareness of the disorder. He is also chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform.

Meanwhile, Ms Reilly is unsure what the future holds after two failed attempts at winning a Dáil seat. “The party could be running different candidates at the next general election. I don’t know if I’ll be part of the landscape,” she said.

However, she said she would remain a member of Sinn Féin and would like to stay in the “policy/advocacy realm”, although she does not know if that will be inside or outside politics.