A KILDARE BRANCH of the Sinn Féin party has declared Matt Carthy as its preferred candidate for the presidential election.
Carthy, who has served as a Member of the European Parliament for the Midlands North-West region since 2014, had confirmed that he would run for a seat in the Dáil in the next election.
The Sinn Féin party is due to announce its presidential candidate at a special Ard Comhairle meeting on the 16 September. That candidate is expected to be Liadh Ní Riada, who is also an MEP and a has 20 years’ experience of working as a producer and director with RTÉ and TG4.
The party’s last presidential candidate was the late Martin McGuinness, who served as the Deputy First Minister with Arlene Foster in the now-collapsed Stormont Executive.
In a statement sent today, the Newbridge-Kildare Cumann (Sinn Féin is divided into various different cumann), nominated Matt Carthy as their preferred candidate.
The Grey Abbey Martyrs Sinn Féin Cumann, named after the biggest single execution to take place during the Civil War, made the decision at their meeting on Tuesday last in Teach Dara, Kildare town.
Speaking after the meeting, Noel Connolly, cathaoirleach of the cumann said that as far as he knew, they are the first cumann to make a nomination.
“After considering a few candidates, the membership settled on Matt. He was proposed by myself and seconded by Councillor Mark Lynch.
We are all impressed by Matt’s no-nonsense approach and his ability to turn words into action.
“He is an excellent representative in Europe and will challenge the use of the office of President as a home for retired politicians, or indeed its new use as a steady income stream for bored businessmen.”
There are a number of presidential hopefuls who are looking for the nomination from local councils. Among them are journalist Gemma O’Doherty, Independent Senator Joan Freeman and three Dragons’ Den investors: Gavin Duffy, Sean Gallagher and Peter Casey, the latter of whom declared his interest as recently as this morning.
The presidential election is to be held on the 26 October; the current president Michael D Higgins, who is 77, is running for a second term despite indicating before that he would only remain in the role for seven years.
It’s also possible that there will be two referendums held on that same day: one on the women’s role in the home and another on blasphemy – both seen as outdated references but which can only be removed from the Constitution after being put to Ireland’s citizens first.
Sinn Féin’s head office has been contacted for comment.
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