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LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago
(Seo alt ónár bhfoireann Gaeltachta. Is féidir an bunleagan as Gaeilge a léamh anseo)
A YOUNG TEACHER from County Meath, Sorcha Ní Chonghaile, will find out at teatime today whether her campaign to be one of three Liberal Democrats elected as Rotherhithe representatives on Southwark Council in London has succeeded, in elections being held across Britain today — local council elections in England, elections to the Senedd in Wales and to the Assembly in Scotland.
Sorcha is not the only one who will be watching the results of those elections keenly, as the political future of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hangs in the balance. Results from counting overnight are indicating that the Labour Party may suffer its heaviest electoral defeat in a generation.
As of this morning, Labour are down more than 200 councillors and have also lost control of eight local authorities, following the declaration of 40 of the 136 council area results.
Reform UK are up 270 seats and control of one council, the Liberal Democrats have gained 29 seats and a council, and the Greens are up 23 seats, with the Conservatives down 61, and independents, ratepayer parties and Your Party combined losing a total of 59.
Speaking to The Journal, Ní Chonghaile, who is originally from Ratoath, said she moved to England about a year ago and has been teaching in Greenwich. As a student in Ireland, she was an active member of Fianna Fáil and a member of the Ard Chomhairle of Ógra Fhianna Fáil. She also served as Irish Language Officer in the Students’ Union at St Patrick’s College in Drumcondra while training to become a teacher.
She spent a year in Europe teaching and was also active as an officer in Ógra Fhianna Fáil, coordinating with the youth wings of other Liberal parties in the European Union.
“I came to London just over a year ago and I didn’t intend to get involved in politics at first, but then I decided I wanted to give something back and I took an interest in the Liberal Democrats because of the background I had in Fianna Fáil,” she said.
She is a candidate in Rotherhithe in Southwark, one of three candidates her party is running in the ward. There are 16 candidates in total competing for three seats on the Council, and given that each voter can make three choices, there is a reasonably strong chance that all three of them will be elected.
The party held 11 seats on Southwark Council up till now — a council on which Labour held power in the last term. But as the tide turns against Starmer’s party, it is thought the Liberal Democrats could gain up to 20 additional seats on a council of 63 seats in total.
She said:
I’m hoping we’ll win the three seats — cautiously optimistic, as they say in English — but I’m not counting my chickens just yet.
“We’re trying to win control of Southwark Council but it depends on the results from everywhere else, and it looks like we have that chance.”
As for Reform, their candidates in the area are barely running any kind of campaign at all, though Sorcha has seen them handing out the party’s literature. She believes they are relying heavily on Nigel Farage’s profile to get elected.
Ní Chonghaile and her colleagues have policies focused on local issues as they seek to attract voters — voters who are asking the same questions being put to politicians in Ireland, people looking for answers on housing, the high cost of living and community safety.
Ní Chonghaile said there were many Irish people in the area and that her own mother and brother had also spent time living there. She also indicated that many of her relatives live in London and England.
Not only were there Irish people in the area, she said, but she noted that many of the people she met were struck by her Irish language name and welcomed it.
“I found out how many Irish speakers there are in my area — when we were out canvassing, I picked up on it from people, because my name is in Irish on the ballot, and people would say ‘tá Gaeilge agam’ and I’d say ‘oh, iontach”,” she said.
She said she was hoping to be more active on the Irish language front once the election was over and perhaps to organise some Irish language events.
She was canvassing all day yesterday, until close of polls at 10pm. Today will be a long day of waiting for results — a long day for herself, her Liberal Democrat colleagues and for Keir Starmer!
The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
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