THE GAINS made by Sinn Féin in the general election were part of the process of “reconquest of Ireland by the people of Ireland”, party president Gerry Adams has said.
Sinn Féin has substantially increased its number of Dáil seats. The party had five TDs going into the election and at the time of writing this has gone up to 13 with the likelihood of one, and possibly two, more when all the counts are complete.
Mr Adams surprised some observers by topping the poll in Louth, where he was declared elected on the first count after a campaign marked by constant questions about his grasp of economic issues, past activities of the IRA and his relationship with that organisation.
The former Sinn Féin TD for Louth, Arthur Morgan, had announced his retirement last November. The party held all of its other outgoing seats, in Cavan-Monaghan, Kerry North West-Limerick, Donegal South West and Dublin South Central.
Sinn Féin gained a seat in Donegal North East where Pádraig Mac Lochlainn topped the poll and was elected on the third count.
The Sinn Féin vote rose to 24.5 per cent from 17.47 per cent in 2007 when the Inishowen-based councillor narrowly lost out on the final seat.
Party vice-president and one of its principal voices in the media, Mary Lou McDonald, finally won a seat in Dublin Central, where she failed to be elected last time.
The party was one of the beneficiaries of Fianna Fáil’s decline in Dublin South West where, on the sixth count, Sinn Féin’s Seán Crowe regained his Dáil seat, which he lost in 2007.
A new Sinn Féin TD was elected in Cork North Central, where Jonathan O’Brien topped the poll ahead of Labour, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael candidates.
In Meath West, Sinn Féin’s Peadar Tóibín came second in first preferences and got elected on the fifth count.
In Cork East, the party’s contender Sandra McLellan scored more than 6,000 first preferences and got elected on the seventh count.
The number of seats won by the party being in excess of seven, it will be entitled to the same privileges as other parties such as taking part in Leaders’ Questions, submitting priority questions to Ministers and proposing Private Members’ motions.
Up to now, with only five TDs, Sinn Féin had been in a “technical group” with two Independent TDs as a means of securing such privileges.
“It appears to me that this is going to be a new government implementing old policies, Fine Gael and Labour implementing Fianna Fáil policies, and that won’t do,” Mr Adams told reporters in Louth.
Asked about working with other parties in Opposition, he said: “We’ll meet our own team obviously and figure all of that out. I’ve always believed in co-operation.”
Addressing his supporters at the count centre in Dundalk, he said: “It’s your victory, it’s a victory for the republican people of Co Louth.”
He added: “We went out with a very, very clear manifesto in terms of core, genuine republican values which are about upholding citizenship, looking after the most vulnerable, making sure that people have their entitlements.
“That’s what we’re about. We’re also a united Ireland party. We’re an all-Ireland party.
“Next Tuesday is the day that Bobby Sands started his hunger strike. Okay, so this isn’t just about who wins what and who tops the poll and who doesn’t, this is about actual sacrifice in terms of ongoing reconquest of Ireland by the people of Ireland.”
Asked if he was concerned that his grasp of economic issues would be tested in the Dáil, he said: “The people who are challenging me on our economic position are the people who brought the economy to its knees.”
He added: “In 2002 we were sitting somewhere about 2.5 per cent, in 2007 we were at 6 per cent, now we’re in at over 10 per cent. It’s been an incremental increase.”
