Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were neck-and-neck for first place in the local elections last night, as the dominance of the two main government parties in Friday’s elections was confirmed by counts all over the country on Monday.
Fine Gael was leading by a whisker on first-preference votes in the local elections but Fianna Fáil was marginally ahead on seat numbers, as a small number of counts continued on Monday night, with some recounts also due on Tuesday.
The fallout from the elections continued in Sinn Féin, with some party sources admitting that members are now questioning the leadership of Mary Lou McDonald.
As Sinn Féin prepares to conduct a brief internal analysis of what went wrong, a number of sources told The Irish Times there was growing unease around what was being viewed as a series of missteps by Ms McDonald.
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This includes the poor performance in the 2019 local elections, the miscalculation of support in the 2020 general election which led to the party not running enough candidates, and the recent decision to not only back the failed family and care referendums, but also promise to rerun them if they were rejected. This pledge was later dropped.
Morale across Sinn Féin is low after more than 200 candidates failed to make it across the line in this weekend’s election. Tensions within the party now appear to be at risk of spilling over publicly with councillors admitting that the party got its strategy wrong.
Sinn Féin councillor John Hearne, who was re-elected in Waterford where seven Sinn Féin councillors were returned, said he believed the party needed to “get back to basics”.
“Armchair generals don’t win elections, soldiers do. Not some guy in a back room. We need to get out of these back rooms, with officers’ boards meeting behind closed doors. We need to get back to hard work. We were trying to be all things to all people.”
In Clondalkin, Cllr William Carey said: “Clearly we put out too many candidates and that diluted our draw in the community. It confused some people as candidates were running in particular areas. We have to have an honest assessment of what happened and we need to look at that in the cold light of day… I think our strategy was wrong.”
Despite a clamour for an early election from some quarters within the Government, Tánaiste Micheál Martin reiterated that the election should be held early next year.
Asked if there were any circumstances in which he would agree to an election this year, Mr Martin said: “Look, we’ve agreed to go the full term. The Taoiseach and I and Eamon Ryan have agreed that.”
Senior figures in all parties, however, concede that pressure for an election this year is building, and may yet become irresistible. The three party leaders will discuss the results, and were meeting on Monday night in advance of Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, but the question of an early election was unlikely to be addressed just yet, sources said.
Counting in the European elections will continue over the coming days. In Dublin, Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews and Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty led the field and are expected to take the first two seats with the remaining two seats to be scrapped over by Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan, Labour’s Aodhán Ó Riordáin, Green MEP Ciaran Cuffe, Independent Ireland’s Niall Boylan and outgoing MEP Clare Daly.
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A first count last night in Ireland South confirmed that Fine Gael’s Seán Kelly had been returned, with Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher likely to follow him.
In Midlands North West, Fine Gael will challenge for two seats, with a strong showing anticipated by tallies for the party’s two candidates, Maria Walsh and Nina Carberry. Barry Cowen is also expected to take a seat as is sitting MEP Luke Ming Flanagan.
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