MacManus secures Sligo/Leitrim nomination
The Deputy Mayor of Sligo and senior peace negotiator, Alderman Sean MacManus, has been selected by Sinn Féin to contest the Sligo/Leitrim constituency at the next general election. The selection convention, chaired by Ard Chomhairle member and Six-County Assembly member Francie Molloy, took place on Sunday 21 May in the Silver Swan Hotel, Sligo, and was attended by over 100 delegates from both counties.
MacManus, a member of the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle for the past 18 years, is a member of both Sligo County Council and Sligo Corporation. He received over 3,200 votes at the 1997 general election and secured over 20,000 votes in the Connacht/Ulster constituency at last year's European elections. A key member of Sinn Féin's negotiating team at Stormont, he has been part of numerous Sinn Fein delegations which have met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and has played a central role in the development of the party's current peace strategy.
He is currently Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Hawks Well Theatre, Sligo, as well as being a member of Sligo Harbour Commissioners, the Border Regional Authority and the Delegate Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland.
MacManus, proposed by Leitrim County Councillor Liam McGirl and seconded by community activist Gabriel Healy from Easkey in West Sligo, was selected unanimously. He said that he was ``extremely confident of being the first Sinn Féin TD for Sligo/Leitrim since the late John Joe McGirl in 1957.
``While we will face stiff opposition from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, we believe that the time is now ripe for the Republican/Labour alternative that Sinn Féin offers the people of these two counties.''
He added: ``The corruption endemic in Irish politics has disillusioned many people with the political process. It is long past time to rid political life, once and for all, of those politicians who have betrayed the trust of the Irish people. The recent revelations of the Flood Tribunal have merely confirmed what Sinn Féin have been saying for years, that politics in this state have been subverted by a cosy cartel - a golden circle - of establishment parties and big business.''
``Sinn Féin offers a clear alternative to this culture of bribes, double dealing and the brown envelope syndrome. A vote for Sinn Féin will be a vote for a society based on social and economic justice, equality and compassion, not on greed and profits.''
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