Sinn Féin members in Connemara have refused to support the party's candidate in the upcoming bye-election in Galway West on the basis that he has no Irish and is not aware of issues facing the local area.
It is understood that members of Cumann Mháirtín Uí Chadhain - the party branch in South Connemara - are critical of the decision taken by Sinn Féin delegates in the constituency to nominate the city-based Mark Lohan.
Speaking to the Advertiser, former local election candidate Máirín Mhic Lochlainn said of Mr Lohan, "He has no Irish, and I never saw him in Connemara."
"Everybody in the branch is unhappy. It appears that some people from the branch are happy to go out canvassing, but I'm not and the rest of the branch are not happy to go out or give any support "
"Sinn Féin are always saying that they are for 'an Ireland Gaelic and free'... it is shameful that Éamon Ó Cuív will be the last politician we had from Connemara.
"And it's Catherine Connolly's seat that will be filled - a woman who was very Gaelic, who was in Connemara often and who knew what was happening in Connemara even though she was from the city."
"It's shameful for Sinn Féin in particular - a republican party - not to have someone with Irish, not to have someone from Connemara"
Mhic Lochlainn also said that the party should have selected a Connemara-based candidate because Mairéad Farrell, the party's sitting TD in Galway West, does not spend enough time in the area even though she is an Irish speaker.
She said, “She’s there once a month. We need people who’ll be there when something happens. The person that we need is someone who you could run into in the shops, like when people used to talk to Éamon Ó Cuív.”
The former local election candidate also criticised the fact that the three bye-election candidates with Irish were unable to take part in a debate in the language due to the other candidates not being fluent enough.
She said, “Those three cannot take part in an interview on TG4. They are being censored because most of them [the other candidates] don’t have Irish.
The chair of Cumann Mháirtín Uí Chadhain, Pádraig ‘An Táilliúra’ Ó Conghaile also criticised Sinn Féin for not selecting a Connemara-based candidate when speaking on Raidió na Gaeltachta on Tuesday, but said that he would still publicly support Mr Lohan in the election.
Responding to the details in this report, Mark Lohan said, “We had a selection convention and the decision was made, and we held the selection convention in Connemara for that matter.
“And a victor emerged, and a candidate emerged - and that’s me. Whoever would have emerged, I as a party member would have supported them.
“I have strong support right across the constituency and we’ve been out canvassing, doing double canvasses in Connemara and town, and it’s going fine. What one person may say or not say is up to them and I have no control over that.”
