Cork Cllr June Murphy resigns from SF

Sinn Féin has been thrown into even more turmoil in the Cork East constituency following the resignation of one of its county councillors.

Mitchelstown-based Cllr June Murphy resigned from the party yesterday.

A few months ago, Sinn Féin expelled Cobh-based Cllr Kieran McCarthy and suspended Cllr Melissa Mullane (Mallow).

The party later reinstated both, but Cllr McCarthy declined the offer and decided to leave the party and run as an Independent in the next general election against sitting Sinn Féin TD Sandra McLellan.

Yesterday Cllr Murphy, aged 41, issued a statement announcing that she was resigning from the party.

She said: “I have not taken this decision lightly and have only come to it after many months of soul-searching.

“As most people will be aware, there have been some issues within the Sinn Féin party in East Cork.”

The councillor said she had found herself unwillingly and unavoidably caught up in these issues, adding she had found her time in the party “to be an increasingly negative experience”.

Cllr Murphy said she had now got to the point where she held no hope of this experience improving in the foreseeable future, and it was for that reason she had taken the decision to quit the party.