‘Safe seats’ visited on quiet day for Adams
The presence of Gerry Adams in the party’s heartlands usually generates some excitement among the local community but even the Sinn Féin president experienced the slightly subdued atmosphere that has been reported on the hustings by all political activists during the current campaign yesterday.
Day 12 found Adams on a tour of constituencies in south Dublin in what could now be regarded as two of the party’s safest seats.
A quick stop-off outside the home of Dublin South Central TD, Aengus Ó Snodaigh in Ballyfermot presented the opportunity to introduce his boss to some of the neighbours. Sadly, a couple of knocks on front doors yielded no response but fortunately the Shinners are not a superstitious lot or they might have considered the absence of the occupant of No 13 ominous.
According to Ó Snodaigh, housing and anti-social behaviour are the key concerns of the local electorate but few voters bother to trouble Adams directly with their woes.
Instead, it’s a steady chorus of “Howya, Gerry. Are you all right?” with Adams responding in kind.
An afternoon stroll down the main street of Ballyfermot was essentially a chance to meet with the converted, without the need for any preaching.
“Why can’t I vote for that man. I recognise his face,” said one slightly worse-for-wear youth standing outside an off-licence struggling to put a name on the Sinn Féin leader.
It was Adams’s sole opportunity for a chance encounter with the floating voter in a day where elements of his original schedule were frequently re-arranged or cancelled.
Sinn Féin don’t appear too anxious about engaging with a wider audience as they receive enough guarantees from passers-by.
“I’ve always voted for you and I always will,” said local man, Andy Maguire proudly.
Earlier, Adams stopped off in a hotel in Tallaght to have a working lunch with the chief executive of Tallaght Hospital, Michael Lyons and representatives of the Irish Nurses Organisation.
Local Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe identified the uncertainty over the future of the National Children’s Hospital in Tallaght as the key concern in the area.
The local branch of Celtic Bookmakers is so confident that Crowe will be re-elected as TD for Dublin South West that they are not offering any odds on either him or Labour leader, Pat Rabbitte, being returned to the next Dáil.
The certainty over Crowe’s seat possibly explained the low-key launch of his election manifesto attended by just a handful of media and party faithful in a pub in Tallaght.
Addressing the gathering, the Sinn Féin leader described Dublin’s most populous suburb as highly representative of the bad housing policy which was widespread across Europe in the 1980s when greenfield sites were “just dumped with acres of houses” and the local shop was a mobile van.
“It could be Ballymurphy or the Creggan,” observed Adams.
Asked if he could get a taste for canvassing so much south of the Border that he’d consider abandoning Westminster for Leinster House, Adams smiled benignly: “I’ve too much sense.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
