Sinn Féin’s Gerry Murray will ‘seriously consider’ run for the Dáil

MAYO’S only Sinn Féin county councillor has said he will ‘seriously consider’ running for the Dáil if the opportunity arises.

Cllr Gerry Murray has refused to rule out standing in the next general election, which is due to be held within the next twelve months.

So far, Sinn Féin has only nominated sitting TD Rose Conway-Walsh to contest the next election.

Deputy Conway-Walsh was elected on the first count in the 2020 general election, which saw Sinn Féin’s popularity surge.

While the party has seen its support drop in the opinion polls, Deputy Conway-Walsh is still likely to retain her seat in the new five-seat Mayo constituency if she is the sole Sinn Féin candidate on the ticket.

Cllr Murray said his candidacy would be ‘subject to whatever strategies the party intends to deploy’.

He previously stood unsuccessfully for the Dáil in 2007.

“If the opportunity arises I will seriously consider it,” he told The Mayo News when asked about his prospects of running in the upcoming election.

The Charlestown-based county councillor was one of nine Sinn Féin candidates to win a seat on Mayo County Council after he comfortably retained his seat in the four-seat Swinford Local Electoral Area.

Swinford-based Sinn Féin candidate John Sheahan came one vote short of re-election after a marathon count which saw Fine Gael’s Cllr Neil Cruise take the final seat on the 30-seat local authority.