'Bricker' builds solid foundation to run again

Sinn Féin first timer almost doubled 2019's vote in Cavan Town.

“Everyone has to start somewhere, I'm glad to put down a solid foundation with my candidacy to go again next time out,” said Sinn Féin's Michael 'Bricker' Wall, who claimed almost double (847) the number of first preferences than the party got in the Cavan Town area in 2019 (430).

The tale behind the tallies is of course that there was a division in the party five years ago. The local cummann split, and it ultimately reflected in the overall vote.

Wall's nomination however proved a unifying force, and he hopes to carry forward the momentum gleaned from the 2024 contest into the future.

He's sitting in the corner of the count centre that Sinn Féin candidates have been encamped to mostly the entire time. Wife Miranda is beside him, a “rock” to everything he does, says Wall, and mum to their three kids and four foster children. She has one arm around his back for comfort. She knows how much this election meant to her husband. He doesn't, after all, tend to do things by halves.

A former member of the defence forces from a Fianna Fáil background, who flirted briefly with Aontú before being convinced to stand for Sinn Féin by TD Pauline Tully, Wall says the focus of the party would encouraging younger voters to become politically active.

“Even focusing on our own cummann we'd he hopeful of recruiting new members off the back of the successes we've had in this election. But my attitude is as it always has been. Crawl before you can walk, and walk before you can run. I was crawling coming into this but I'm now at the walking stage. We'll come back again.”