Sinn Fein will back candidate with ‘a lot’ of Irish, McDonald signals

Speculation on who Sinn Fein will back in the presidential race has narrowed after leader Mary Lou McDonald said the preferred candidate has “a lot” of Irish.

Senior party figures have refused to reveal what their intentions are ahead of a formal announcement due on Saturday.

However, independent candidate and gaeilgeoir Catherine Connolly – who already claims the backing of the Social Democrats, large parts of the Labour Party and People Before Profit – has said she would welcome the support of Sinn Fein.

Sinn Fein has left that option open but theories and guesswork around whether the party will run its own candidate has centred around Ms McDonald herself, the party’s leader in the Northern Ireland Executive Michelle O’Neill, and deputy leader in the Dail Pearse Doherty.

Ms McDonald concretely ruled herself out of contention earlier this month, adding that it was her priority to “lead from the front” in holding the current Fianna Fail-Fine Gael coalition to account in the Dail and offer an alternative government.

Speaking to reporters at the National Ploughing Championships on Thursday, the Sinn Fein leader left further clues to the party’s approach.

Asked by Irish language station RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta if the preferred candidate had Gaeilge, Ms McDonald replied in Irish: “Yes, a lot.”

This would appear to rule out Ms O’Neill who is understood not to have a high level of proficiency in Irish – while Mr Doherty and Ms Connolly are fluent.

However, she said both the Sinn Fein representatives would be present when the decision is announced to the media on Saturday.

At that press conference, she said they would set out “the logic and the intent” of their decision.

Ms McDonald defended her party’s decision not to announce its intentions until September 20 and said: “Sinn Fein’s participation will be a game changer in this election – it’ll be very much game on.”

She said the campaign did not start until nominations close on September 24.

Asked what she meant by a “game changer”, Ms McDonald said: “I mean a game changer, Match of Day, Up For the Match.”

Pressed on whether that meant adding an additional player into the game, she replied: “We’re a national party, and a national organisation, I think we’ll be very influential in this contest.”

Ms McDonald said Sinn Fein had to balance two objectives, to get Fianna Fail and Fine Gael out of government and out of the Aras.

“That’s what our campaign will aim to do.”

Asked if this meant she would not consider reducing the number of Sinn Fein representatives in the Dail by selecting a TD as a candidate, Ms McDonald said she had “addressed the issue” in her remarks when she ruled herself out of contention.

She said: “I am keenly conscious that we have made commitments to the Irish people, to sections of society that desperately need effective representation, and to those who believe that we can have government beyond Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, and who see the merit in that and we have to continue that work.”

She added: “For me – I can speak freely about myself – that is my absolute priority.

“I don’t quit on things, I stick with them and I believe the next couple of years are going to be really, really crucial in building confidence across Irish society that a better, stronger, more effective alternative government can be available to people.”

Should Ms O’Neill be the candidate, Sinn Fein would be able to replace her in her role as First Minister.