Dublin – Ireland’s two main coalition parties narrowly defeated Sinn Féin in local council elections on Sunday, a surprising blow and potentially damaging the left-wing party’s hopes of a first national election victory in March.
Sinn Féin, the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army, has seen its three-year poll slip as more voters see immigration as a major concern rather than housing, which Sinn Féin dominates.
With most of the 949 seats filled, the result was worse for Sinn Féin than opinion polls suggested. Prime Minister Simon Harris’ Fine Gael and main coalition partner Fianna Fáil won 23% of the first preference vote, while Sinn Féin took 12%.
Sinn Fein has trailed its two main rivals in the first of Ireland’s three European constituencies to announce partial results.
“In the last few weeks I felt there was a trickle. To be honest, nobody saw the results coming,” Matt Carthy, a senior Sinn Féin MP, told RTE radio.
Although Sinn Féin improved on the 9.5% of candidates received in the last local elections in 2019, it did not have 25% in the 2020 general election or 35% in the October poll.
Failure to enter government for the first time would block Sinn Féin’s bid to hold a referendum on reunification with the British territory of Northern Ireland, where it is already the leading party.
“The idea that there was something inevitable about Sinn Féin in government was shattered in this election,” he said.
Sinn Féin MPs have expressed confidence that they will do better in the national election, but the problem is that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail want to re-organize together without them. Breaking the plan would require Sinn Fein to get around 30% of the vote.
‘TAX SEARCH’
The Coalition has struggled to deal with refugee levels, prompting Harris to strengthen the country’s stance since becoming prime minister in April, with Sinn Féin’s Eoin O’Broin saying it was unclear where the party stood on the issue.
Sinn Féin is caught between traditional working-class voters, who are more skeptical of the issue, and new, younger middle-class supporters who are concerned about migrant rights.
O’Broin, the party’s housing spokesman, said the low turnout of 49% compared to 63% in the 2020 general election meant Sinn Féin had failed to impress voters and had “a lot of work to do” to convince them. out next time.
The divisive Irish independent candidate, who has set the hardest line on migration, won 21% of the vote, a slight increase over the past five years.
Analysts said the result could mean Harris could try to hold an election before March and take advantage of Sinn Féin’s struggles. Harris told reporters he had no such plans.
Theresa Reidy, senior lecturer in politics at University College Cork, said: “We have to be careful about extrapolating anything but more volatility into the future.”
“But I believe there will be many people looking for the life of Sinn Féin because based on these numbers, an alternative government will not be a credible leader.”
