Published Date:
19 November 2009
By Conor McHugh
Athy man Des Dalton has been elected the new leader of Republican Sinn Fein. He takes over from Ruairi O Bradaigh who has stepped down for reasons of age and health.
Mr O Bradaigh, 76, has led the party since it was formed in 1986 after he led a split from Sinn Fein.
Mr. Dalton has served as the party's vice-president since 2003 and is a brother of Mark Dalton, a Fianna Fail councillor in Athy.
He has been a member of Republican Sinn Fein since the age of 18 and has been a member of the RSF Ard Comhairle for over a decade.
Mr. Dalton ran in the Athy Town Council elections in 2004 receiving 131 first preference votes. He also ran in the 2009 local elections but failed to get elected on that occasion as well.
However speaking to the Leinster Leader, Mr. Dalton denied that he was in effect only the second president of Sinn Fein saying that the party claimed lineage dating back to the original version of the party in 1905.
The party has claimed to be the only one that still believes in a united 32 county socialist republic.
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Last Updated:
18 November 2009 10:40 AM
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Source:
Leinster Leader
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Location:
Kildare
