Mary Lou McDonald is still “up for it” and there won’t be a change of leadership in Sinn Féin, according to the party’s finance spokesperson.

It follows a poor performance for Sinn Féin in the local elections, which has returned 101 seats out of a possible 944 so far, as five seats are left to be filled.

Midlands North West candidate Michelle Gildernew also said the party is unlikely to retain its seat there and Kathleen Funchion faces an uphill battle in Ireland South to return a seat.

'We're up for it'

Deputy Doherty said they have “made mistakes” in their campaign but that the party leadership will not be challenged.

“There's no question within the party in relation to the leadership of Mary Lou McDonald,” he said.

“We're humble enough to say that this was not our day, that we have made mistakes, that we need to do better and that's exactly what we're going to do.

“People are depending on us to make sure Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil don't get another five years, that's our job, it's a huge responsibility, we're up for it, Mary Lou's up for it and the leadership of Sinn Féin's up for it.

“Mary Lou McDonald will provide positive leadership and energetic leadership running into the next general election, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind in relation to that.”

Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald speaks to media in the count centre Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ie

The Donegal TD said there are some positives Sinn Féin can take from the elections.

“I'm glad to see that we have more councillors now elected than we had going into this campaign,” he said.

“Our vote is up, and the government parties have lost 70 seats or something, I think there are 80 seats lost between them.

“But that being said, we had bigger expectations going into this election and we didn't meet those expectations and for that we're disappointed.”

'Celebrity' candidates

Deputy Doherty said Sinn Féin does now plan on following suit with other parties by running ‘celebrity’ candidates.

“All our candidates are people,” he said.

“The key issue for us is that our candidates are rooted in the communities, that they're Republican in their outlook, and that they can deliver the type of positive vision that people have, that's our criteria in terms of selecting candidates.”

On the positive side, Lynn Boylan looks set to gain a seat for Sinn Féin in the Dublin constituency of the European Parliament.

Main image: Sinn Féin spokesperson on finance, Pearse Doherty, speaking to media at Leinster House in August 2020. Picture by: Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ie