MEP's interest in Sinn Féin election ticket

Published: Wed 11 Apr 2018, 4:33 PM

Last updated: Wed 11 Apr 2018, 5:34 PM

Local MEP Matt Carthy has confirmed his intention to put his name forward for the Sinn Fein nomination ahead of the next election.

Check out this video he released on announcing his intention to run.

MEP Carthy hopes to supersede TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, who earlier this year announced his intention to retire from politics.

Deputy Ó Caoláin has been TD for Cavan and Monaghan since 1997, and re-elected every election since, topping the polls in 1997, 2002 and 2011.

Dáil leader for Sinn Fein until 2011, the former bank official and member of Monaghan County Council is a former director of elections for Kieran Doherty, one of the H-Block hunger- strikers, who himself won a Dáil seat in 1981.

The future election strategy of the party to run MEP Carthy has been consistently hinted at, not just by Deputy O’Caolain when speaking to this newspaper, but by others close to the party in the region.

Elected to the Midlands, North, West constituency in 2014, MEP Carthy presently sits on the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in the European Parliament.

Earlier this year rumours swirled whether MEP Carthy would potentially throw his hat into ring in challenging Michelle O’Neill for the deputy leadership of the party.

The party has at all times voiced its intention to run a gender balanced ticket at the next election. Indications at this time are that Sinn Fein are seeking out interest from among its female members in Cavan in a bid to maximise voter spread.

Former Sinn Fein Senator Kathryn Reilly from Ballyjamesduff narrowly missed out on a seat in 2016, losing out alongside Fine Gael's Joe O'Reilly in the reduced four-seat Cavan-Monaghan constituency.

She subsequently applied for a nomination to contest the Seanad elections again, but was informed by the party Ard Comhairle that Donegal's Padraig Mac Lochlainn was instead their preferred candidate.

Ms Reilly is now a Fianna Fail party member.

Former Cavan County Councillor Pauline Tully has also publicly stated that, due to family commitments, she too was ruling herself out from adding her name to any potential ticket.