McDonald would change ‘lots of things’ about election
By Cillian Sherlock, PA
Sinn Féin could have presented a clearer picture that it had allies in opposition to the electorate, Mary Lou McDonald has suggested.
Ms McDonald said she would have changed “lots of things” about the general election campaign which saw the party perform below opinion poll highs and remain in opposition.
November’s Irish general election saw Sinn Fein emerge as the second-largest party in Ireland – although with a significant drop from 24.5 per cent to 19 per cent of first-preference votes.
It was commented that Ms McDonald had failed to provide the electorate with a vision of a unified left-wing alternative to Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, who re-entered into Government.
However, a united opposition emerged in the early days of this parliamentary session with the Sinn Fein president fronting press conferences with other party leaders who were critical of the coalition’s proposals on speaking rights for independents that had supported Government formation.
On Friday, Ms McDonald said the party had learned lessons and now must not “repeat any mistakes that were made” in the election campaign.
She said she did not receive any pressure to step aside as leader but acknowledged there had been “very frank, very honest” conversations within the party.
However, she was in her “prime” and had the “full support of all her colleagues”.
Asked on RTÉ’s Late Late Show if she would have done anything differently, she said: “Yes, lots of things.
“I mean, for example, one thing: We need to be able to assure people at the next election, when we talk about a new government and a new approach, that we actually have partners in that enterprise.
“And I think even in the earliest days of this new Dáil, you have seen a level of collegiality co-operation between Sinn Fein and other parties of the opposition.
“And I know from being out and about, so many people have said: ‘Thank God, at last’.
“That’s a big learn for me. I think a big learn for all of us.”
Ms McDonald also said there was “merit” in Sinn Fein supporting a candidate for the upcoming presidential election that came from outside its own ranks.
She said Sinn Féin had “options” when it came to putting forward its own hopeful or giving its backing to someone else.
“We’re going to have to have a conversation, I can see the merits in both – I have my eye on one or two possible candidates.”
Ms McDonald said she was not tempted to consider the role herself, as she could not achieve her goals of a change of government from within Aras an Uachtarain.
She told Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty, from Co Down, that it was “no longer acceptable” that people from Northern Ireland could not vote in the presidential election.
She said she wanted to see this changed for the next presidential election after 2025, adding that she wanted to “maximise the franchise” – including for unionists in Northern Ireland.
