Seat is secure for Sinn Fein
BALLINAMORE Councillor Martin Kenny was quietly confident by four o’clock on Sunday afternoon that he’d retain the Sinn Féin seat in this constituency.
“From Saturday it was all very close but it’s panning out today much as I would have expected,” he told The Sligo Champion
“I will get a very good transfer from Paddy O’Rourke when he goes out, he’s from a neighbouring parish at home in Leitrim and I’ll also get a good transfer from Chris MacManus. I’ve been picking up transfers from all the candidates as they go out. I’m very confident I’m going to take a seat,” he said.
Kenny’s running mate Sligo town man Chris MacManus polled well, pulling in 4,747 first preferences and was in the running right to the 12th count. Some have argued that if the party ran just one candidate Kenny might have topped the poll.
“At all stages, we felt we could get at least one seat for Sinn Fein. If we were very very lucky – we knew it was a long shot – we’d take two seats, but the decision to run two candidates was certainly the right decision,” said Kenny.
“If we hadn’t run two candidates, we couldn’t win two seats – that’s the chance you take in politics. We always felt that the best we could do was run two candidates, put the best effort into it and if we were lucky – and we were going to have an awful lot of luck on our side – we were going to elect two. That just didn’t pan out on the day but we’re very happy to have secured the seat Michael Colreavy held for the past five years,” he said.
Speculation now turns to the formation of the 32nd Dáil and whether or not Fianna Fail will consider a coalition with Sinn Fein.
Kenny admits he and the party would like to go into Government: “Of course. Everybody’s in politics to go into Government. What we want to do is to represent the people.
“What we have to do is try and use policies and laws that will help people in the North West. After that we’ll certainly be sitting down and looking at them all but at the moment it’s looking like a coalition between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.
“Certainly in the last week of the election that’s what people were beginning to see happen. Would it benefit Sinn Fein to be the leader of the opposition?
“Whether it benefits any party or not, the questions is, is it good for the country?” said Kenny.
“That’s the real question. If Fine Gael talk the talk about stability, if that stability means they’re going to have the cutbacks in services most people are experiencing across the country, the huge waiting lists here in the hospital – that’s not the kind of stability people want.
“The stability they want is an improvement in their lives, improvements in their incomes, mortgages – they’re the changes people want. Up to now the two main parties have been looking after vested interests,” he added.