FF TO CANVASS AGAINST FF MEMBER

‘I’ll have to discuss the anomaly’

MEMBERS of Fianna Fáil are set to canvass against a candidate they prematurely – and with great fanfare – unveiled as their first to run in the local elections in Northern Ireland.

Independent councillor Sorcha McAnespy, who is a member of the Fianna Fáil national executive, was unveiled as a candidate in the Northern Ireland local elections by Senator Mark Daly and Éamon Ó Cuív TD in October. She would have been the first Fianna Fáil candidate to ever run in the North – something the party had pledged to do by 2019.

However, the move was done without the knowledge of party headquarters, and led to the party issuing a statement clarifying that they would not be running any candidate, and reprimanding Mr Daly, who was sacked as the party deputy leader in the Seanad.

Mr Ó Cuív also lost his role in the party’s front bench.

Last week, Fianna Fáil announced a partnership with the SDLP, which would see them support each other on campaigns and canvass for each other.

Ms McAnespy, formerly of Sinn Féin, has refused to support the SDLP, and is now set to contest the election as an independent.

Under the new agreement, between Fianna Fáil and the SDLP, Fianna Fáil will canvass on behalf of SDLP candidates in the North, meaning Ms McAnespy will see the party she thought she was going to run for, canvass against her.

Ms McAnespy told the MoS that she is trying to find a solution to this tangled political problem. ‘As Fianna Fáil aren’t actually going to run candidates themselves, it means that I’m kind of in a position where I feel I have to run as an independent. There have been suggestions that I might join the SDLP but that’s not something that I’m prepared to do... the SDLP just doesn’t fit with who I am as a person.

‘I have to have a conversation (with Micheál Martin) about that anomaly, and how we square that circle, because it wouldn’t be right for members of my party to be canvassing for a political rival,’ she said.

However, there could be a further headache for Fianna Fáil, with Ms McAnespy saying that some members of Fianna Fáil will canvass for her, potentially leading to divisions over who they support in the local elections.

When asked if the party would permit members to canvass for her – as well as the SDLP – Ms McAnespy said it wouldn’t violate party rules.

‘I checked this out. If Fianna Fáil are only in a partnership with the SDLP so they aren’t actually running candidates themselves… therefore I would not be directly running against another Fianna Fáil member.’ A senior Fianna Fáil source told the MoS that there was sympathy for Ms McAnespy, but that they couldn’t see the party allowing members to canvass for both an Independent and the SDLP.