DONEGAL NE election candidate Ryan Stewart has decribed Fianna Fail as a ‘farce’ over its election strategy.
“Fianna Fail is in absolute turmoil. What looked like as electioneering ploy to draw Fine Gael into a two-candidate strategy before withdrawing, has now descended in to farce,” said Stewart.
He went on: “Charlie McConalogue is now standing as the sole candidate, and this could have increased an individual Fianna Fail vote across the constituency, however Cllr Dessie Larkin has just shown why he should not represent the party.
“His comments that the party have turned their back on 20000 potential voters, show that he is more inclined to involve himself in parish-pump politics, rather than representing the constituency as a whole only echo what Fianna Fail in Inishowen pursued when trying to put forward a running mate for Niall Blaney in McConalogue – whoever got elected – would only have turned their back on the other side of the Swilly.
“For Cllr Larkin to run as an Independent, now, shows the disarray Fianna Fail is in, and the fact that he has dismissed Inishowen voters at the same time shows that he has no concept of how to represent the constituency on a national level. He is a part of a party machine, and can offer no alternative at this stage other than a protest vote outside of Inishowen, which will contribute nothing.”
“We have one constituency here in Donegal North East, and any representative elected should represent both equally, and not just represent Donegal North East, but Donegal as a whole. This debacle in Fianna Fail is illustrative of what has let this county down for decades. I believe that in order to gain prosperity here, that the three elected representatives from Donegal North East and the three in Donegal South West have a key role to ensure that the next Dail is a constructive one, rather than getting involved in the posturing that is involved in an election race for the whole duration of the term.”
“I have shown by getting unanimous cross-party support on a very divisive issue that we can get our representatives to work together, if they are willing, so the choice is simple – do we move on from the mess in this country that has been created by party politics or do we deliver change? That is a matter for the voter. I believe that voters will see an alternative in what I stand for, and this is exactly why I am in this election race.”