Adams to contest Dáil seat

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams will contest the Co Louth seat in Ireland's next General Election, party sources confirmed today.

In a major political move by Sinn Féin, he will also immediately resign from the Northern Assembly but will retain his West Belfast seat at Westminster.

Mr Adams will announce details of his plan when he addresses Republicans at a commemoration in Edentubber, in Co Louth, later today.

A party source today said: "It is speculated that Mr Adams will announce at Edentubber that he will seek the party nomination to stand for Louth for the Dáil.

"In order to concentrate on this, he will immediately resign his seat at the Assembly."

While the source would not go further, it is now known that Mr Adams will confirm both moves when he addresses supporters this afternoon at the Co Louth event.

Sinn Fáin's Arthur Morgan, who currently holds the Dáil parliamentary seat for Louth, last week announced he is to step down from frontline politics to concentrate on business interests.

The vacancy has led to today's shock political development.

There is no modern precedent for a politician to seek election to both Westminster and the Dáil, but as an all-Ireland party Sinn Féin already has elected politicians across the island.

Sinn Féin has five MPs elected in the North, including Mr Adams. It has four members elected to the Dáil.

Mr Adams will relinquish his West Belfast seat at the Stormont Assembly under the party's new strategy.

But he will nevertheless continue to hold seats in both Westminster and the Dáil if he were to successfully contend the Louth constituency.

And with an Assembly election due in the North next May, it is unclear whether he may still seek to retake his seat at Stormont if the General Election in the South has taken place by that time.

There will now be intense speculation in Belfast as to who might fill his vacant post at the Assembly, given that commentators have previously noted that he has no natural successor in the West Belfast constituency.

And while, on the wider front, republican voters may be attracted to a move that is seen to politically 'blur' the Irish border, it is likely the issue of 'double jobbing' may be seized on by Sinn Féin critics.

The Adams move also seems at odds with the direction of Sinn Féin developments in the Republic over recent years. The strategy has appeared to be one of raising the profile of younger republicans who are based in the south.

Media observers in the Republic have claimed that despite Mr Adams' often high approval ratings in the State, the role of the Belfast politician in the south has only served to underline the impression among some voters that Sinn Féin is a "northern party".

Last week Mr Morgan announced he would not contest his Louth seat at the next General Election.

He said he intended to concentrate on business interests, but added that his plans had not caused rancour within the party and claimed the leadership had accepted his decision.

Mr Morgan said he would continue to be active in Sinn Féin.

He was elected to Louth County Council in 1999 before seizing a Dáil seat in the 2002 General Election, which he held in the 2007 poll.

Sinn Féin is the narrow favourite to win the Donegal South West by-election on November 25 after its candidate, Senator Pearse Doherty, went to court to force the under-pressure Fianna Fáil-led Government to fill the long-standing vacancy.

Meanwhile, polls have repeatedly suggested that the Labour Party is poised to be the chief left-wing political beneficiary of public disquiet over the economic crisis gripping the Republic. But Sinn Féin has said it hopes to make gains in the next General Election.

Sinn Féin has topped the poll, emerging as the largest party, in the North's last two elections.

Today's announcement could signal the beginning of a new high risk strategy to boost its standing south of the border.