Mary Lou McDonald in positive mood at the partys Árd Fheis in Belfast
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has pledged to lead the party into the next general election, insisting she has the confidence of her party colleagues and the party membership.
The party is continuing its Árd Fheis in Belfast this weekend, with Mary Lou McDonald describing the party as having ‘great pep in our step’ and saying she believes the party is at its strongest since 1921.
Mary Lou McDonald took over leadership of the party from Gerry Adams in 2018 and says the party has no plans to change leadership at this time.
Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire
Speaking to the media outside the ICC this afternoon, Mary Lou McDonald said ‘We have built since the last general election. We’re ahead with the polls. That’s always a good place to be.’
‘We were instrumental in the election of Úachtarán Catherine Connolly, that was a huge achievement for us as an organisation.’
‘And of course, we are working hard preparing with our eye on the next general election in the next number of years. I want us to be ready. I want us to peak at the right point.’
Asked directly if she would lead Sinn Féin into the next general election, she said: ‘Yes.’
Pic: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
The party is contesting two by-elections, one in Galway West and the other in Ms. McDonald’s home constituency of Dublin Central, and Mary Lou says that far from feeling under pressure, she is very much looking forward to the by-elections.
‘We’re a strong party, we’re ahead, as I say we lead the polls, and we’re in a very, very strong position, so we go out, and we fight those elections in that spirit,’ she said
‘I’m the leader of the party, we are a collective leadership, and we are in a very, very good place, so we’ll fight the by-elections, and I think they’re going to be fascinating contests, actually, in both constituencies. I think it’ll be a brave person who would predict the outcomes of them.’
