The “only Sinn Féin member” having a good day amid elections is imprisoned former councillor Jonathan Dowdall, a Fine Gael Minister has said.

Sinn Féin has polled around 11% of the votes currently counted. 

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are in a tight race to be the largest party in local Government. 

Deputy Carroll MacNeill said the numbers reflect the “hard work” of current councillors and candidates in recent weeks. 

“You can see people who sling mud on social media and spend a fortune – i.e. Sinn Féin – they get stuck in the mud,” she told The Anton Savage Show. 

“Simon Harris has put in an extraordinary campaign, but his energy matches the energy that the candidates have had.” 

On the other hand, Deputy Carroll MacNeill said people do not believe the “magic” that Sinn Féin promises. 

“People want detail,” she said. 

“Look, the only Sinn Féin person having a good day is Jonathan Dowdall in Portlaoise Prison who stuck his house up on the market for €800,000. 

“That is well over the price of what Mary Lou thinks a house in Dublin should be. 

“It goes to show that people didn’t buy that, that they want detail.” 

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall being cross examined by Mr Hutch's defence barrister, Brendan Grehan SC during the trial at the Special Criminal Court, Dublin, of Gerry "The Monk" Hutch for the murder of David Byrne at a hotel in Dublin in 2016

Dowdall is a former Sinn Féin councillor who came to national prominence due to his involvement in the killing of David Byrne in 2016. 

When he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, leader Mary Lou McDonald welcomed the ruling and said “Jonathan Dowdall left Sinn Féin some years ago”. 

“He subsequently worked with, and supported, a political opponent of Sinn Féin in the Dublin Central Constituency,” she said. 

Sinn Féin election campaign

Barnados CEO and former Labour advisor Fergus Finlay said Sinn Féin’s main issue in this campaign was they “didn’t actually run a campaign”. 

“They put up posters around the place like ‘Change begins here’ - it meant absolutely nothing,” he said. 

“I can’t say that I followed it every waking hour but I saw no sign of Mary Lou on the campaign trail. 

“Meanwhile, you couldn’t open your window without seeing Simon Harris and where Simon was Micheál Martin wasn’t long to follow. 

“I don’t know if Mary Lou left Dublin – if she did it was in the dead of night, and she was back before morning.” 

There are roughly 700 seats left to fill in local elections while counting for European elections is currently underway.