SINN FEIN in Donegal this evening elected Padraig MacLochlainn as their candidate in the forthcoming General Election for Donegal North East.
As expected the Deputy Lord Mayor of Donegal was the only candidate to put his name forward at the convention at Letterkenny’s Radisson Hotel.
HUndreds of delgates turned out for the convention which also ehard rousing speeches from party President Gerry Adams and recently elected TD Pearse Doherty.
Padraig MacLochlainn said that his party needs to grasp the opportunity and elect two Sinn Féin TDs in Donegal.
He said “Sinn Féin have outlined how we would reduce the real deficit by asking the very wealthy to pay their fair share at last and by radically reducing the pay of those highly paid in the public services.
“We have also outlined how we would get our people back to work by investing billions from our National Pension Reserve Fund into delivering Sinn Féin’s job creation proposals and building new schools, roads, and other public infrastructure.
“Sinn Féin has successfully led the campaign for the A5 Donegal to Dublin dual carriageway but we now need to ensure that the national roads within the county are upgraded to reap the full benefits of this crucial project.
“No political party has been more focused on getting our people back to work than Sinn Féin. What we ask is the chance to implement these policies in Donegal”.
“Republicanism is about the people being sovereign. It is about equality and fairness. The people of Donegal have recently witnessed what they can expect from a genuine republican TD.”
He added that Pearse Doherty has now energised the people and given them hope and reminded them of what we are all supposed to be about.
“The people of Donegal are good, honest, and hard working people. They deserve so much more than the tired civil war conservative politics of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. They deserve to be met half way. They deserve real leadership and hope.
“We in this room are leaders. We didn’t betray the Republic. We didn’t build alliances with the Gombeen men and the cronies. We were their victims. We didn’t turn our back on our brothers and sisters in the Six Counties”.
“It is time for New politics in Donegal. It is time for Sinn Féin. We can elect two Sinn Féin TDs for Donegal.
This is our time. Let us grasp this historic opportunity with every ounce of our being. Let us build towards the Republic of our dreams, the Republic yet to be.
“We can do it. Ta an lá ag teacht,” he said.
Ends