“The leadership of the party appeared to not recognise or were unwilling to accept..”

An iol report confirms the news Mick noted last night, Sinn Féin Dublin City Councillor Killian Forde has resigned from the party. As the report notes, “He is the third city councillor to resign from Sinn Féin.” And, Dublin Sinn Féin Chairperson Eoin Ó Broin said it had become clear in recent times that Killian Forde was “in the wrong party”. On his blog, the newly liberated Cllr Killian Forde agrees

As people within the organisation will know I had become increasingly concerned with the direction of the party over the past three years. This concern was magnified after the 2007 elections but I believed that organisational changes promised to create an organisation fit for 21st century Ireland would evolve. These changes were re-promised after the election debacle of 2009 and yet those changes still had to materialise.

Sinn Féin had become staid and unresponsive and lost direction in the south over the past few years in both policy and organisational terms. The leadership of the party appeared to not recognise or were unwilling to accept that changes are long overdue. These changes were essential to transform the party into one that values discussions, accommodates dissent and promotes merit over loyalty and obedience. It is only logical that if you disagree with the direction of the party and are unable to change it there is no option but to leave.

Adds As the RTÉ report points out

Sinn Féin’s representation on [Dublin] city council has now [been] cut from seven to four councillors within six months of the last local elections.

Pete Baker