A TRIUMPHANT Mary Lou McDonald declared “we made history” last night as Sinn Fein secured a surge in votes at the Irish general election.
McDonald became president of her party two years ago and took 24.5% of first preference votes at the weekend contest, pushing Fianna Fail into second place on 22.2% and Leo Varadkar’s Fine Gael into third on 20.9%.
As the count neared its conclusion yesterday, McDonald said she’d try to form a government without striking a formal coalition with either of those two parties.
During the campaign, both said they would not enter into such a deal with McDonald’s party – and Fianna Fail also ruled out working with Fine Gael.
Yesterday McDonald told Irish broadcaster RTE: “This vote for Sinn Fein is for Sinn Fein to be in government, for Sinn Fein to make a difference, for Sinn Fein to be tested, for Sinn Fein to deliver.”
Professor Gail McElroy of Trinity College Dublin called Sinn Fein’s result “the major story of the 2020 Irish general election”.
Last year it took 9.5% of the vote in local elections and lost two out of three MEPs.
READ MORE: Sinn Fein president: PM must call Irish poll in event of hard border
Writing in The Conversation, McElroy said Varadkar’s handling of Brexit had failed to convince voters and the public had “not forgiven” Fianna Fail for its “mismanagement” before the country’s crippling economic crash.
Exit polls showed health was the priority for 32% of voters this time, with housing and homelessness second at 26%.
Brexit was forefront for just 1% of the electorate.
And, in a separate poll, 57% of voters said they’d support Irish reunification referenda within five years.
Support was highest in the 18-24 age group, with the 65-plus bracket the only age category to indicate clear opposition.
Former Taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader Bertie Ahern said a border poll now appears “inevitable”, stating: “The Sinn Fein position is it should be held within five years. So let’s say we are talking about it being five years off, I do not think you are going to get the circumstances where it would become a condition of government that it has to be held in the short term.
“But it will be inevitable over this decade.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, he cautioned: “It can only be done when the preparation is done, when the case is made, when it has been well explained, when people know the outcome. To try and push it or rush it, which some people will probably try to do, would be a grave mistake.”
Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said it was a “good day”.
Speaking at Stormont, Sinn Fein’s vice president called the result “a game changer”, saying: “We have provided solutions in terms of the health crisis and the housing crisis so we will want to work with others to establish a programme for government that reflects how we can deliver upon those promises.
“But obviously we are Irish republicans, there is no secret of that, and clearly we will have asks in terms of the republican project, clearly we will have asks in terms of the kind of society we want to build.
“We have said there should be unity referendum within five years so that’s the position we will take into negotiations.”
If a deal cannot be done, a second election is a possibility.
READ MORE: Ireland's General Election yields massive gains for Sinn Fein
Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe, who was Varadkar’s Finance Minister, said forming the government will be “uniquely demanding and complex”, stating: “We will be very relevant to the formation of the next government, we will work with other parties to put ourselves in a position to lead that government, but it’s very early in the process to be able to say what that government will look like.
“No political party in our country has a monopoly in representing the people of Ireland and while the election of Sinn Fein and their results are in many ways remarkable, many hundreds of thousands of people voted for Fine Gael as well.”
Downing Street said it was “following the results of the Irish election carefully”, adding: “The close relationship between the UK and Ireland will continue regardless of the election result.”
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