Major reversal for Sinn Féin in southern elections

As counting continued last night, it was clear that Sinn Féin had seen its vote slump in both the council elections and European election, both of which were held on Friday in the Republic.

Today, when counting of the votes in Northern Ireland’s European election gets under way in Magherafelt, the party can be confident of holding its MEP seat north of the borde but the number of votes for Martina Anderson will be closely scrutinised in light of what has happened in the south.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has now led the party into three successive elections in which its vote has gone backwards and she acknowledged that it had not been a good result for the party. Ms McDonald gave no hint that she is considering resignation, saying: “It’s easy to lead and to be a political activist when things go your way and when the surge is on.

“Those are great days, but you also have to be ready and fit for purpose when things are more challenging.

“Notwithstanding our disappointment, Sinn Fein remains a very strong organisation.”

Sinn Féin suffered particularly because of a surge to the Green Party.

With the southern economy booming, widespread support for Leo Varadkar’s tough stance on Brexit and a series of internal Sinn Féin scandals, the republican party has seen its support dip in the polls over recent years.

In last year’s Irish presidential election, Sinn Fein’s vote plummeted to 6.3% – down from 13.7% in 2011.

Last night, with 150 of 166 first counts in the council elections completed, Sinn Féin’s first preference vote share stood at 9.5% – down from 15.2% in 2014.

The party won 159 seats in the last southern council elections but last night, with more than half of all seats declared, Sinn Fein was still on 41 councillors.

The undisputed story of the election has been the surge of the Green Party, which last night stood on 35 council seats, up from just three.

Sinn Fein has been beset by a series of internal rows – especially in councils – where some former councillors have quit the party over recent years alleging bullying or other inappropriate behaviour by some party colleagues.

The party has also seen some votes leach to Aontú, the pro-life party set up by former Sinn Fein TD Peadar Tóibín, who quit the party over its liberalising stance on abortion.

The party saw its first councillor elected to Derry and Strabane council earlier this month and yesterday it had its first southern councillor when Sarah O’Reilly was elected on the first count in the Bailieborough Cootehill area of Cavan County Council,

RTE reported that in Dublin City, Sinn Féin’s share of the vote is down 12 percentage points while in Cork City there its vote has fallen nine points while there are also losses in Galway, Limerick and Offaly and elsewhere.

Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly admitted: “We didn’t see this coming” and fellow Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin said any party that does not grow in an election needs to look at what it did wrong.

Ms McDonald said: “Five years ago there was a Sinn Féin surge and five years ago we won 100 extra council seats in local authorities the length and breadth of the State, and of course in this campaign our objective was to hold each and every one of those 100 seats,” she told reporters.

“That is not going to be the case. Today is the Greens’ day. They have surged on this occasion and more power to them. It would be churlish not to acknowledge that and to wish them well... “Sinn Féin aren’t crybabies. We’ll dust ourselves down and we get back at [it] because that is what political activism is all about.”