'Nothing is set in stone'

SF's Bennett hopeful of securing three seats

“Its different when its you name on the sheet,” says Sinn Féin election hopeful Carthy Bennett.

The first of the 20 candidates running in the Cavan-Monaghan constituency, she is looking over the shoulder of tallymen and standing close to party stalwart Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin who is otherwise engaged in marshalling an army of counters to feed the count information back to a centralised location.

“I am nervous,” she admits, acknowledging that its a “big day” for her party to ask the local electorate to vote three of her colleagues into the Dáil. “We're under no assumptions. We went into this election to do a job, and we're here now. The people will decide, and nothing is set in stone. Hopefully it will be a fantastic day for Sinn Féin.”

Cavan-Monaghan has a history of bucking the trend in favour of the Monaghan cllr's party.

Ó Caoláin, now retired, was the first Sinn Féin TD to take his seat in Leinster House following his election in 1997. He went on to become his party’s longest serving elected representative in this State with 33 years continuous service.

Sinn Féin’s sole T.D. from 1997 to 2002, Deputy Ó Caoláin was appointed his party’s Dáil Leader in 2002, a position he held until 2011 when Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin’s then Party President, was elected for the neighbouring constituency of Louth.

“If we could pull three out of the bag, as I've said, it'd be fantastic. Caoimhghín was the first TD for Sinn Féin, so if anyone can do it I feel this constituency can do it.”