#GE16 Guide to Louth: Champagne on ice for a Sinn Féin two seater certainty…

Louth Current TDs Fergus O’Dowd TD (Fine Gael), Peter Fitzpatrick TD (Fine Gael), Gerry Adams TD (Sinn Féin), Minister of State Ged Nash TD (Labour), Seamus Kirk TD (Fianna Fáil)*    * Was automatically returned in 2011 as the outgoing Ceann Comhairle Total seats in 2016 General Election: 5 Main Towns: Drogheda – population 38,578 Dundalk – population 37,816 Ardee – population, 4,927 Candidates of interest:  Fergus O’Dowd TD, Fine Gael (Drogheda) Cllr. Imelda Munster, Sinn Féin (Drogheda) Ms. Emma Coffey, …

Read more…

Question for Gerry Adams: Is Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy still “a good republican”?

As the BBC reports, 66-year-old Thomas Murphy has been found guilty of nine charges of tax evasion at Ireland’s non-jury Special Criminal Court. When, in March 2006, there was a series of co-ordinated raids on properties in the UK and Ireland connected to Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy – who had been named previously as both the UK’s richest smuggler and a former Provisional IRA Chief of Staff – the Sinn Féin president, now Louth TD, Gerry Adams declared, “Tom Murphy is not a …

Read more…

“Are you going to pay your water charges, Gerry?”

To pay or not to pay water charges was the question of the week for the southern wing of Sinn Féin.  In the north, things are completely different…  Under pressure from former MEP Paul Murphy of the Anti-Austerity Alliance, the party’s candidate in today’s by-election in Dublin South West, Cllr Cathal King, had majored heavily on his opposition to the charges during the campaign – telling potential voters that he won’t pay, and would fight his bill in the courts. His party …

Read more…

Why Gerry Adams faces one of the biggest challenges of his political career…

On The View last Thursday, there was some agreement on that between Deirdre Heenan referred to him as being made of Teflon, ie nothing ever sticks to him. But Mr Adams’, and increasingly his party’s, problem does not arise from having a sex offender as a brother. Any of us can have a bad egg in the family. And the problems associated with intrafamial sex abuse are indeed traumatising for all concerned. The real problem arises from Mr Adams’ inability …

Read more…

“it is impossible to believe that any other political leader on this island would survive…”

The guilty verdict in the retrial of Liam Adams on ten offences, including rape and gross indecency, against his daughter, Áine, leaves unanswered questions about the evolving narrative of his brother, Sinn Féin president and Louth TD, Gerry Adams, post the 2009 UTV Insight programme when the allegations were made public.  Indeed, the absence of Gerry Adams as a witness in the retrial was questioned by the jury – as UTV reports During a first trial earlier this year, which …

Read more…

Giro-drop Gerry? A resident less ordinary

I see Pete has flagged this between me starting the draft and getting home but I’ll add my take regardless. Several weeks back I noted Gerry Adams would find it no problem to become a candidate in Louth but may find it more difficult to become an elector. In order to be able to vote at an election or referendum, a person’s name must be entered on the register of electors for the locality in which the elector ordinarily resides. …

Read more…

“what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Termonfeckin to be born?”

Well, there’s one for the record. Dermot Ahern quits ahead of the election (and it could be 28th December if Lowry and Healy stick to their rebellious murmurerings of last week). Who’d have thunk it? Well Brian Feeney for a start (H/T Kate!). He may not have suggested Ahern would so spectacularly have quit the field, but he hinted darkly at his imminent defeat few others in the southern space thought likely. Already the Twitterverse is waxing lyrical on the …

Read more…

“I know there is a lot of genuine people who feel abandoned”

When the [soon-to-be] former International Representative for west Belfast announced his intention to disappear over the border to Louth, he assured the Dundalk Democrat that GERRY Adams will reside in County Louth if elected to Dail Eireann in this constituency. The Sinn Fein leader made the admission on a visit to The Dundalk Democrat on Monday. Many people had questioned his decision to run in County Louth despite not being from the area but Mr Adams said he will happily relocate …

Read more…

Gerry Adams: Able to run but not vote?

Gerry Adams declaration he will seek to run as a candidate for Dáil Éireann resulted in a pointless debate on how he will leave his postion as MP for West Belfast. Another technical point is that while he is legally entitled to run as a TD, he may not be entitled to vote in any future election. As the Dundalk Democrat notes and we all know, Adams doesn’t live in Louth or the south: GERRY Adams will reside in County …

Read more…

“There is a bit of a split in the camp over it”

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has denied reports of dissent in the party being imposed as a candidate in Louth following his sudden decision to leave west Belfast, and the UK, in a bid to hold onto the Dáil seat to be vacated by Arthur Morgan.  He’s telling anyone who will listen that “The idea for me to stand . . . came from within the constituency. If you elbow yourself in somewhere you create havoc and it doesn’t help the party.” …

Read more…

You take the man out of West Belfast but his MP will (eventually) follow…

I was going to leave this caustic piece of graphic satire from the Bavarian Orange Blogspot to Moochin, who spotted it on Facebook this afternoon, but then someone punted me this post from former West Belfast resident Anthony McIntyre, whose former MP is about to become his bright shiny, new Sinn Fein TD… Clearly, he cannot believe his luck… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider …

Read more…

The one thing worse than being talked about?

Interesting to see the responses to Gerry Adams’ hypothetical candidacy in Louth during the next, as yet uncalled, General Election. While all politics may be local, and the Donegal SW by-election will ultimately be decided by various local issues, Gerry Adams’ announcement managed to catapult Sinn Féin onto the front pages in the penultimate weekend of the campaign. Whether long-planned choreography, beginning with Arthur Morgan’s resignation, was unpacked by Pearse Doherty’s successful High Court action, is not likely to be admitted in the short term. In reality, …

Read more…

shhh…you didn’t hear it here first

Image by Brian mór - original on the Pensive Quill

You heard it here. With Arthur Morgan leaving behind socialism for business (a first for SF?) the field is open for a new SF face in Louth. Will Gerry Adams be declaring his hand at Edentubber? The good people of Louth would of course want this handy loyal supporter’s guide to Adams as a representative if he did step up to the plate. Blank

Arthur Morgan: “It’s just the right time”

The Dundalk Democrat reports that Sinn Féin TD for Louth, Arthur Morgan, has announced that he will not be seeking re-election to the Dáil in the next Irish General Election. I hope it wasn’t anything we might have said… From the statement by Arthur Morgan on the  Sinn Féin website. I have served two terms now as a Sinn Féin TD for Louth. It has been a great honour to represent the people of this county and it has been a …

Read more…