Laois Sinn Féin candidate secures a seat in Seanad Éireann
Newly elected Senator Maria McCormack
IT was third time lucky for newly elected Sinn Féin Senator Maria McCormack when she took a seat in the Seanad Éireann elections earlier this morning Sunday 2 February.
On her first election outing in the June local elections Ms McCormack polled poorly with just 276 first preference votes in the Portlaoise Municipal District.
On her second outing in the November general election she put up a solid performance polling a credible 4,914 first preference votes, but fell just short and finished fourth in the three seat Laois constituency.
However over the weekend she was always in the race, among the 17 candidates for one of the 11 seats on the Labour Panel of the upper house in the Oireachtas.
It had been a bruising year for the Sinn Féin party in Laois, losing all of its three elected representatives (Brian Stanley TD and councillors Aidan Mullins and Caroline Dwane Stanley) following their registrations from the party.
With the election of Senator McCormack the party in Laois will hope to build on that success.
Following her election Senator McCormack said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be elected to Seanad. It is an honour to be standing here in Leinster House on Saint Brigid’s weekend knowing that Laois will have female representation in the Oireachtas.
“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.
“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.”
She said: “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. 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.”
Senator McCormack became the second ever woman in Laois to be elected to Seanad Éireann following on from Senator Cathy Honan from the Progressive Democrats who was elected in 1993 for four years. Labour’s John Whelan from Laois also secured a seat in the Seanad in 2016.
