THE DAUGHTER of one of the IRA’s ‘disappeared’ victims has confirmed she will not be running in the general election.
Weekend reports had suggested that Helen McKendry, the eldest daughter of Jean McConville, was preparing to contest the election in the Louth constituency, where Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has already declared as a candidate.
McKendry’s husband Seamus had told the Sunday Independent that it was “quite cynical to think he [Adams] is running in the same constituency where they buried Jean.”
Last night, however, Seamus confirmed that while he and Helen would be doing anything they could to diminish the votes accrued by Gerry Adams, Helen wouldn’t be putting her name forward as a candidate.
The Irish Independent quotes Seamus as saying that the couple had met some “beautiful people in Louth” during the 31-year search for McConville’s body, and asked voters not to consider supporting Sinn Féin.
“I would ask the people and voters in Louth to give a moments thought to Tom Oliver and Jean McConville before they ruin their future with a protest vote,” he said.
The Irish Examiner adds an appeal to voters to remember that “this recession is worldwide”, and not just an Irish issue.
McConville’s body was found on a beach at Templetown, Co Louth in 2003, having been missing since 1972. It was claimed by former IRA operatives that Mrs McConville – a Protestant who married a Catholic – was a paramilitary informer.
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