Republican News · Thursday 14 February 2002

Two selected for Cork South West

Sinn Féin has selected two poll-topping Town Councillors to contest the upcoming General Election in Cork South West. At a recent convention, Anne O' Leary from Bantry, and Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin of Clonakilty were unanimously selected as candidates.

ne O' Leary is a secondary school teacher, married to a local fisherman, with three daughters. She stood for Sinn Féin in the 1992 General Election and was co-opted onto Bantry Town Commission in 1997, having missed being elected by just four votes in the 1994 local elections. She proved a diligent and effective public representative and was rewarded by the people of Bantry when she topped the poll in the Town Commission Elections in 1999.

Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin was first elected to Clonakilty UDC in 1994, becoming the youngest councillor in Clonakilty. In his first council term he established himself as a vocal and dedicated public representative, never fearing to speak his mind, often on controversial issues. In 1999, he topped the poll, receiving the highest first preference vote ever for any candidate in the 100-year history of the UDC. He also stood in the County Council Elections in 1999.

In a joint statement, the two candidates said: "Standing in Cork South West is a huge challenge for Sinn Féin in this part of Ireland. However, with the organisation growing steadily over the last few years, combined with the encouragement we have been getting from many people from all over West Cork, we feel the time is right. The feedback we have been getting over the last few months is that many people, especially the under 30 age group and first time voters, have no interest in supporting the usual political parties in Cork South West. We are there to offer an alternative to the electorate.

We are under no illusion of the task ahead of us over the coming months. However, with our dual candidate strategy, with the candidates based towards the geographical extremities of the constituency, we are confident that we could see the first Sinn Féin TD elected for West Cork since Michael Collins!"