Mary Lou McDonald: We are 'election ready' and 'running to win'
Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald, First Minister of Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill, and party colleagues speak to media this morning at the second day of the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in TUS Athlone, Westmeath. Photograph: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie
Mary Lou McDonald has insisted that Sinn Féin is "election ready" and her party is still aiming to enter Government.
Sinn Féin has seen support slide from a high of 37% this time two years ago, to below 20% in some recent polls.
Speaking at the party's Ard Fheis in Athlone, Ms McDonald said a larger number of candidates "than ever before" will be put forward, adding that Sinn Féin is "running to win".
"We're election ready, we look forward to the campaign, we are in it to win it."
Ms McDonald said people will "have to think carefully" when the election is called, "because the choice will have consequences for all".
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"I think there's a real sense of positivity and optimism amongst our membership, and we're going to run very strong slates of candidates. So we feel confident and we're ready for it. We are ready for this campaign, for this election, because we believe passionately that there has to be a change of government, that we can do so much better."
Pressed on possible coalition partners, she said: "The best outcome from the election is a new government without Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that's our preferred option all day, every day, the people will decide the balance of forces in the Dáil."
She conceded that the number of seats won in June's local and European elections "wasn't the result that we wished for", but insisted that the mood in the party is now positive.
"We look forward to the election campaign. The stakes are high, there will be a very important choice to be made. We've had 14 years of Fine Gael in government and we want to present people with a real choice, a choice that will really mean getting to grips with housing, the cost of living, crisis, childcare, and that alternative is in Sinn Fein."
Asked about comments made by former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who suggested the pace of population increase has been too fast, she said: "The population has grown, that's a matter of mathematical fact, immigration has to be managed with community fairness, common sense at its heart. That hasn't been the case.
"I think the attempts by the government to distance themselves from their own failures are very, very obvious. They claim that they're not responsible for the housing crisis, nobody buys that. I think I heard the Taoiseach also say that he's had nothing to do with the Children's Hospital either, that's just farcical, quite frankly.
"We launched our own policy during the summer. We've set out our stall. It's about community, it's about fairness, and it's also about government recognising that many communities, working-class communities, some rural communities, have been left behind again and again and again, and you cannot keep stretching resources in those communities. That's not fair or reasonable," she said.
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