SF loses face in struggle to elect Mary Lou

I NOTE that a second Sinn Féin councillor has defected from the party since the local elections.

The departure of John Dwyer, who was re-elected to New Ross District Council in Co Wexford, came hot on the heels of the surprise announcement from Christy Burke, SF’s longest serving councillor in the Republic, that he was defecting last week.

Mr Dwyer’s comment that SF’s strategy of “building a party of faces rather than policies is never a good thing” was clearly aimed at Mary Lou McDonald. In 2007 she failed in her bid to become a TD and has now failed to be re-elected as an MEP. It seems the SF leadership is intent on her acquiring an elected post regardless of the cost to its hardworking councillors .