EDITORIAL: Much to ponder for Sinn Féin after local election blow-out

FOR months, June 7 was seen as a litmus test as to whether the Mayo public were ready to put their faith in the Sinn Féin party as an alternative to the power bases of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
The party laid down a real marker in General Election 2020 after the stellar performance from Rose Conway-Walsh, who received support in every ballot box across the county. Indeed, many said Sinn Féin could have elected a second TD in the constituency, such was the swell of support on that occasion.
So one really has to ask the question, where did those voters disappear to last Friday? Sinn Féin assembled what looked like an impressive team of nine candidates, but even if John Sheahan does manage to take a second seat for the party in Swinford, the failure to get even one other candidate elected is very worrying for them.
In reality, none of the other seven candidates even got into the race for a seat, and their percentage totals of the votes cast in the electoral areas, bar Swinford, was very low.
Commenting, Deputy Conway-Walsh said to this paper that it is ‘very challenging’ to unseat sitting councillors on a local authority and that new candidates need ‘time to be profiled’.
“I think there were a number of factors in it in that regard, and we always knew that coming up to the election, but what we wanted to do in Mayo was to give everybody an opportunity to vote for a Sinn Féin candidate,” she said.
But the reality is, the people who voted for Conway-Walsh and Sinn Féin in the last General Election chose not to continue that support. It would seem that anti-Government vote went to mostly Independent candidates in last weekend’s local election.

Balance of power
Regardless of the final outcomes in the still to be finalised Swinford and Ballina Electoral Areas, it seems almost certain that the Independents will again hold sway when balance-of-power negotiations begin in Aras an Chondae next week.
The Independent group lost one of its most high-profile councillors in Christy Hyland, but they have gained Chris Maxwell of the Independent Ireland grouping in the Westport Electoral Area. They also now have Harry Barrett in their ranks, after he ousted Fianna Fáil’s Martin McLoughlin in Castlebar.
The strong performance of Stephen Kerr, also in Castlebar, shows that those unhappy with the Government’s migration policies chose to give him their support rather than row in behind Sinn Féin and that party’s efforts to target Government policies.
Outside of Sinn Féin’s poor performance, there were a few other notable take-aways from last Friday’s election. The performance of the aforementioned Maxwell was outstanding in Westport; Alma Gallagher made history in Claremorris by becoming the first woman ever elected in that area; and Paul Lawless delivered on his potential to strike a blow for Aontu in Mayo.
Results from the European elections will only become apparent later in the week. Sinn Féin will be hoping to make some sort of recovery there, but for now, they really must take stock and decide how they strategise ahead of the impending general election.
Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will be happy with their performance in the local elections. Simon Harris must surely now be tempted to ‘go to the country’ in November, after October’s budget. Only time will tell.