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AS A PARTY, Sinn Féin is in the process of making a monumental decision, possibly one of the biggest it will ever make.
Does it gamble running its leader in a presidential election with the goal of progressing Irish unity? Or does it back the unity left candidate, Catherine Connolly, and keep its strongest voice in the Dáil, with the hope of finally securing a change in government at the next election?
Despite party leader Mary Lou McDonald definitively saying six months ago that she would not be her party’s presidential candidate, just weeks out from the election, things are different.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Journal, McDonald presented a mixed message on what her intentions are.
At certain points of the conversation, she gave the impression that Sinn Féin is leaning towards backing Connolly, but at other junctures, it appeared as though she is giving serious consideration to running herself.
Has Sinn Féin not made up its mind, or has McDonald not made up her mind?
On whether she is giving serious consideration to running herself, the Dublin Central TD said:
“Well, look, I’m not trying to be evasive or kind of cute or coy in saying this, but all of the propositions and scenarios have been put on the table… People are arriving in their own way at the same conclusions or at different conclusions. So it has been a genuine process.”
Here’s everything McDonald had to say.
In McDonald’s view, there was one big learning for Sinn Féin following last year’s two elections.
If the opposition parties are really serious about unseating Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, they need to work with each other more publicly, more often and earlier in the election cycle.
Speaking to The Journal in her Leinster House office, she said: “When [we] were saying to the electorate that a change of government is possible, that an alternative to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is possible, you have to have the work done with other colleagues from outside of Sinn Féin, for people in their mind’s eye to really see or believe that there is an alternative.”
She pointed to what she described as the “powerful” combination that took hold across the opposition benches at the beginning of this year during the speaking rights row as a good example of this.
“I hope, and I believe that you will see again and again that capacity to collaborate and to work in common cause.”
Are these remarks a tee-up to Sinn Féin backing Catherine Connolly in this year’s presidential election?
Not quite.
McDonald said there are two “dynamics” the party has to consider, and is still considering.
On the one hand, Sinn Féin’s view is that the president must be someone who has “a real understanding and sense of the change that’s happening across Ireland” in terms of the appetite for Irish unity.
“I don’t want to see us sleepwalking into a referendum in the way that Brexit came upon the people across the water. That was very destructive and very negative. We need to do the work now.
“I think the Uachtaráin also needs to be aware of Ireland’s place in the world, our position as military neutrals, as a non-aligned country,” McDonald said, adding that the president also has to be mindful “of our young people, who are being failed and failed and failed”.
“So we’re talking about all of that on the one hand, and the importance of the presidency, but then as a party, we are absolutely mindful of the priority and need for a change of government.”
She added: “We do want wider collaboration with others, with the Left, with the combined opposition. And so all of these are the factors that people have been weighing up in the conversation that is still ongoing.
“I’m the same as everybody else in the party, weighing up these dynamics,” McDonald said, adding that Sinn Féin is set to decide on its approach by 20 September and denying that she was keeping her cards close to her chest in anticipation of what Fianna Fáil decides.
Does she believe that Catherine Connolly has the attributes that are important to Sinn Féin for the presidency?
“I think Catherine is a very fine person and a fine parliamentarian. I’ve a huge amount of time for her. I suppose as time unfolds, she will set out the elements of her campaign,” McDonald responded.
Asked if she has spoken to Connolly directly in recent weeks, the Sinn Féin leader said she has not.
And on whether her party would take a similar approach to that taken by Labour, by setting up a meeting to allow Connolly to make her pitch to TDs and Senators, McDonald said this was unlikely.
“No, we take our own counsel first in fairness. It’s for us to make up our own mind on that wider and broader politics, and then we’ll see what arises from that. But that’s not in the offering now,” McDonald said.
She said the party will base its decision on two things. Firstly: Irish reunification, Ireland’s place in the world and our young people.
And secondly: On the “absolute necessity to get this useless government out of office”.
“Those are the two dynamics,” she stressed.
Despite her claims otherwise, McDonald is coy about how much consideration she has given to running.
“Personal considerations in public life are, of course, always there, but they’re not to the foreground. That’s not the first instinct for an activist, for somebody in public life. Or certainly, I should only speak for myself,” she said.
Many pundits discussing the prospect of McDonald running have painted it as a zero-sum game: If she ran and lost, she would not be able to return to the Dáil.
Does she share this thinking?
“Look, I don’t think you should be painting doomsday scenarios around anybody in public life, because that’s rarely the case,” she laughed.
“I’m in public life for the long haul, and I’m committed to representing people, to doing my level best always… So I don’t entertain doomsday scenarios like that at all, at all.”
She added:
“And just to be clear, that’s not the frame of mind that I would come at, politically or indeed personally. In any decision, you have to do what you believe is the correct thing to do in any given scenario, and then you live with the consequences.”
Ahead of last year’s general election, Sinn Féin pledged that if it was in government, there would be referendums on Irish unity by 2030.
Despite her party’s defeat in the election, McDonald said she still believes 2030 is a realistic timeline.
“I get frustrated sometimes that people are either, by accident or design, not seeing the very clear shifts and changes that are happening,” she said.
Asked if she believes that there have been enough conversations across the island on unity and what it would look like in reality, McDonald said it isn’t so much about the symbols — like the flag or the national anthem — as it is about services and prosperity.
“The polling data reflects that when you actually talk to people, including people within the unionist and loyalist community, the first issue that is actually raised is the issue of health care,” she said.
She added that she is not saying that things like the flag and the national anthem are not important, but that they are not the priority.
Asked if she would be willing to give up the Irish flag, she said:
“Well, no, I didn’t say that. The green, the white and the orange, in my opinion, it represents ententes between the peaceful coexistence between the two traditions on this island. That’s my view. Not everyone shares that view, but that’s my view.”
McDonald maintained that the conversations are happening, but what is missing is government engagement.
In recent weeks, there has been some debate about the level of Irish a presidential candidate should have.
While Catherine Connolly is fluent, the two other hopefuls currently in the race (Gareth Sheridan and Nick Delehanty) have both said they are either learning the language or plan to.
McDonald, who herself has a decent command of the language, said her view is that even if a person is not fluent, they “absolutely” have to have a sense and an appreciation of the language and all of “the cultural hinterland”.
On her view of Sheridan and Delehanty more generally, McDonald said she “doesn’t know much about them”.
“Let them at it. I mean, that’s democracy, right? We’re equal citizens. So you know, they want a crack at it? They now need to go and do the work and see if others share their confidence.”
Turning to the forthcoming Dáil term, McDonald said the cost of living and housing will remain her party’s top two priorities.
“The worst thing about the cost-of-living crisis is that so many of these hikes are actually driven by government choices and government policy. And yet, ironically, the government are now saying there’ll be no cost-of-living package in the Budget.
“I mean, easy knowing that there isn’t a general election this year,” she quipped.
“And then thirdly, young Harvey, who died before reaching his 10th birthday,” McDonald said, referring to Harvey Sheratt, who sadly died last month after waiting years for scoliosis surgery.
McDonald said we have now “reached a tipping point” on the issue of waiting lists for children’s spinal surgeries and that the government, and Simon Harris, in particular, needs to answer for that.
Will we see a motion of confidence in Simon Harris?
“To my mind, the correct way to go about this is a combined motion from the Opposition,” McDonald responded.
“But Simon Harris needs to answer questions. He needs to be accountable. So does the wider government, and we need solutions for these families.
“I have no confidence in Simon Harris. I have no confidence in any of them. They’re absolutely useless,” she concluded.
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