Newly-elected Sinn Féin Senator Maria McCormack has vowed to be the strong female voice the people of Laois need in the Oireachtas.
Speaking at Leinster House this afternoon after she was elected to the Seanad via the Labour panel, Senator McCormack said:
“I am absolutely thrilled to be elected to Seanad. It is an honour to be standing here in Leinster House on St Brigid’s weekend knowing that Laois will have female representation in the Oireachtas.”
McCormack is the first Laois-based Senator since John Whelan won a seat for Labour in 2016 and the first female Laois Senator since Cathy Honan of the Progressive Democrats, who held a seat from 1993 to 1997.
In what is proving to be a good Seanad election for Sinn Féin, she will be one of two party representatives on the Labour panel alongside former Dublin Bay South TD Chris Andrews.
She got 89 first preference votes (which are multiplied by 1,000 for electoral purposes) and was comfortably ahead of her other running mates Paul Gavan, an outgoing Senator, and Dublin city councillor Daithí Doolan.
Unlike McCormack, both of those were ‘outside’ candidates and didn’t have the official backing of the party.
In all there were 11 seats to be filled on the Labour panel from 17 candidates but the big casualty was former Minister of State Anne Rabbitte from Galway who didn’t win a seat.
Winning a Seanad seat completes a remarkable political year for McCormack in what was her third election to contest in seven months. She was both a Local and General Election candidate for Sinn Féin, filling the vacancy in the latter following Brian Stanley’s shock resignation from the party.
Prior to the Seanad election she said she would open an office in Portlaoise if elected and with a five-year term out in front of her now as a Senator the obvious next step will be to go one better and win a Dáil seat at the next time of asking.
Following a tumultuous time for the party in Laois, she is now the only Sinn Féin representative in Laois – as well as Brian Stanley now being an Independent TD, both of their councillors elected last June, Caroline Dwane-Stanley and Aidan Mullins, have resigned from the party too.
“As well as being a strong Sinn Féin voice for the county, I will also be a strong advocate for the delivery of affordable housing, and ensure that the voices of carers and people with disabilities are heard,” she continued.
“I want to thank everybody who voted for me – all the TDs, councillors and outgoing Senators.
“But in particular, I want to thank the thousands of people in Laois who voted for me in November’s General Election, and to everyone in Sinn Féin in Laois and republicans across the country for the support they have shown me.
“I know that for the thousands of people who voted for me that the return of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to government will be of great disappointment to them,” she added.
“But I can assure those voters that Laois has a strong Sinn Féin voice in Leinster House who will go toe to toe with the government from day one.
“Sinn Féin will continue to have your back, and we will work to build an Ireland that is fairer, united, and more equal; to achieve a new era where workers, families and communities come first.”
Also elected on the Labour vocational panel were Robbie Gallagher, from Monaghan, Pat Casey, from Wicklow, and Margaret Murphy-O’Mahony from Cork for Fianna Fáil; Mike Kennelly from Kerry, Mark Duffy from Mayo and Joe O’Reilly from Dublin for Fine Gael.
Labour’s Nessa Cosgrave from Sligo, Patricia Stephenson for the Social Democrats from Kilkenny and Galway-based Independent Ger Craughwell were also elected.
Laois’s other Seanad candidate – Fine Gael councillor Conor Bergin – is seeking a seat on the Administrative panel but counting of votes hasn’t commenced there yet.
SEE ALSO – Laois Sinn Féin candidate on course to be elected to Seanad Éireann
