Sinn Fein’s team to contest the Local Elections in Laois this summer has been reduced by the withdrawal of a candidate who had been confirmed to run.
Mountrath native Julie Maguire, who was confirmed as a candidate by the party in December, will not be on the ballot paper.
Ms Maguire, who was due to run in the Borris-In-Ossory/Mountmellick area, confirmed her decision to LaoisToday but did not wish to make any further comment.
Sinn Fein may replace her before the election but party sources have indicated to LaoisToday that this is unlikely.
Despite Ms Maguire’s decision not to run, Sinn Fein will still field their largest ever amount of candidates at an election.
The party currently have two elected members in Laois County Council – Aidan Mullins in Graiguecullen-Portarlington and Caroline Dwane-Stanley in Portlaoise – but are seeking to make significant gains when the country goes to the polls in June.
The party currently doesn’t have any elected member in the Borris-in-Ossory/Mountmellick District – but they still have two candidates remaining who will be hoping to breakthrough and unseat one of the sitting councillors.
The Mountmellick-based Lorna Garry, who got almost 650 votes in 2019, is running again while Helen Campion from Rathdowney is also on the ticket.
Both are strong community activists and Lorna Garry is currently a Sinn Fein area representatives, a role assigned by the party.
They also have three candidates in Portlaoise – the sitting Cllr Dwane-Stanley and Maria McCormack, who lives in Portlaoise but is originally from Ballyroan, which is part of that electoral area.
While just last month, Jason Phelan, who lives in Abbeyleix, was added to the ticket in the area.
The Graiguecullen/Portarlington LEA will see Graiguecullen man Aaron Kelly, a first-time candidate, running alongside the sitting Portarlington Cllr Aidan Mullins as the two confirmed Sinn Féin candidates in that region.
While Sinn Féin held their two seats in Laois in the 2019 Local Elections, their vote fell substantially across the country – losing 78 seats nationally and going from 159 councillors to 81.
They dramatically reversed that trend eight months later when their Dáil representation went from 22 seats to 37 and they won a higher percentage of the vote than Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for the first time ever.
In 2019, Sinn Féin ran four candidates in Laois – the two that were successful as well as Lorna Garry in Borris-Mountmellick and the Abbeyleix-based John Gormley in Portlaoise.
Lorna Garry polled well with 649 first preference votes but was never realistically challenging for a seat as the ninth-placed candidate where only six were elected. John Gormley got just 131 votes and was eliminated in the fourth count.
The seven confirmed candidates that Sinn Féin are set to run on this occasion compares to four in 2019 and 2014, five in 2009, two in 2004 and one in 1999.
SEE ALSO – Check out all our 2024 Local Election coverage here
