SINN FÉIN LEADER Mary Lou McDonald has said that the party is preparing for European elections in Northern Ireland should they go ahead next month.

The party’s Northern Ireland MEP Martina Anderson is promising to fight an “energetic and solid campaign” in the elections.

As it stands, the United Kingdom is set to leave the European Union on 12 April but Prime Minister Theresa May has requested this deadline be put back to 30 June.

European leaders have insisted that the UK could not remain part of the EU if it did not hold MEP elections that are due across Europe between 23 and 26 May. 

The European Union fears legal challenges could be brought against the EU by British citizens who wished to exercise their vote in the European election.

This has raised the prospect that the UK may be forced to hold European elections next month, even if the UK may leave the EU soon afterwards. An eventuality which would likely affect Ireland’s process for electing MEPs. 

UK political parties area already making preparations for the elections with Labour beginning the process of selecting candidates and Nigel Farage preparing to lead The Brexit Party into the European Parliament. 

Sinn Féin currently has four MEPs, three in the Republic and one in Northern Ireland, and party leader McDonald said today that they are preparing for elections on both parts of the island. 

“One of the uncertainties is the whole issue around elections in the north, whether or not there will be European elections, we’ll be discussing that here at our Ard Comhairle today and we will be ensuring that we will be prepared and above all this is about protecting Irish interests,” McDonald said today. 

In a tweet after that Ard Comhairle meeting, Anderson said that she is ready to seek re-election as a Northern Ireland MEP.

“SF will fight an energetic and solid campaign which puts your interests, your rights & entitlements first. SF more than up for an EU campaign in the north of Ireland,” she tweeted.