Ruairí realises huge pressure to hold seat
These are some big shoes to fill.
Gerry Adams got 15,072 votes in the 2011 General Election. Five years later he again topped the poll with 10,661 as the Sinn Féin share increased from 21.74% to 28.86% in the new five-seater on the back of Imelda Munster’s 8,829 first preferences.
Now that Adams has stepped away, his would-be replacement is under no illusions about the task ahead.
‘ There is huge pressure. I’m on the record as saying no one wants to be the guy that loses Gerry Adams’ seat. I’ve no difficulty with that,’ remarks Ruairí Ó Murchú.
‘In fairness, Gerry Adams came down here and, from a Sinn Féin point of view, delivered the goods for us. It was also necessary our leadership was properly ensconsed in the south.’
Co-opted on to Louth county council Ó Murchú contested his first Local Election last year, picking up 1,423 votes to be elected on the first count in Dundalk South.
Nationwide, those elections were a disaster for Sinn Féin which saw its representation at local authority level drop from 159 to 81. In Louth, three seats were lost as the party’s share fell from 31.42%.
However, at 24.1% it still left Sinn Féin the biggest party in the ‘ Wee County’.
‘We had a sobering Local Election, you have to take cognizance of the result, but the party across the board has taken stock of that and we are back out at it. We are getting serious engagement from people.’
The bookmakers’ prices on Ó Murchú winning a seat have shortened dramatically over the last fortnight to 1/7, having been odds against in the initial stages of the campaign. Nationally, GE2020 polls too are indicating a move towards Sinn Féin.
‘I’m not saying I’m buying polls, we are very good at dismissing the ones we don’t like,’ remarks Ó Murchú but adds he is getting on the doorsteps a dis-satisfaction with the government and with Fianna Fáil.
He also takes heart from by-election results and the Northern elections, combined with the Assembly being back up and running.
‘I’m not saying that’s a boost, but seeing it (the Assembly) not sitting, and as much as we can stand over everything we did to put it back in place, it was an easy narrative to present in relation to us.
‘I think we have shown we are up for business in the north and we are looking to do it here.’
Sinn Féin’s Ruairí Ó Murchú chatting with Peter Fee.
That leads to the United Ireland question.
‘I think the conversation is beginning. We’ve had the conversation at Louth county council with a motion I put in. I didn’t expect the amount of interaction.
‘While it didn’t all go absolutely our way, I think Brexit has been a game-changer in relation to people’s views.
‘We are once again being impacted by the fact we have two jurisdictions, one of which is British and needs to be removed from the island of Ireland.
‘Obviously, we need to come to an agreement with all the people who live here and I think we can do that, and we can do a better job than being ruled from afar.’
On the canvass Ó Murchú is hearing about concerns over healthcare, waiting times, the Louth hospital being under-utilised, and crime.
‘I’ve spoken repeatedly in relation to drugs and drugs’ gangs. These are the issues coming at us.
‘It’s a case of we have failed as a State to deal with these problems for years, and now it’s coming home to roost.’
A housing crisis shows no signs of abating.
‘ That is an obvious one (concern) and rents, that goes without saying, and, in this county, the landbanks we have and the huge debt we are paying on them, and the fact we are not building enough houses.’
Climate change must also be tackled, Ó Murchú asserts.
‘If we don’t take action now then what sort of a world are we going to be living in?’