A EX-SINN FÉIN councillor in Limerick has said she was “hugely disappointed” over her husband being removed from the Seanad election race, which has prompted her own resignation.
Two-time senator Paul Gavan was left off the party’s candidate list for the upcoming election.
Ursula Gavan said she felt “left between a rock and a hard place” when her spouse Paul Gavan was left off the party’s candidate list in recent weeks.
She said her personal view of the party has been “tainted” by the experience, but left the door open to reopen at a later date, saying that “you can never say never”.
“I’m not going to start party bashing,” Ursula Gavan told The Journal.
“I was hugely disappointed with the party to drop my husband from the ticket – but I’m not seven, I’m not just throwing my toys out of the pram,” she added.
“It would be very difficult for me to continue working as a councillor within the party, because I’ve always worked with my husband behind the scenes. We always worked as a team in Limerick.”
When he stepped aside last month, Gavan said he felt there was little “to be gained by actively contesting for a seat” on the labour panel in the Seanad elections.
He had been nominated by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. However, Sinn Féin then left Gavan off its election list for the upper house of the Oireachtas, instead selecting a number of unsuccessful general election candidates. Gavan was also an unsuccessful general election candidate having stood in Limerick on the ticket behind longstanding TD Maurice Quinlivan.
Chris Andrews, who lost a seat in Dublin Bay South – and Laois-based Maria McCormack have been listed as the party’s only hopefuls for the Labour Panel.
The Labour Panel elects 11 senators, at least four of whom must come from nominations through the Oireachtas and at least four through nominating bodies like ICTU.
Paul Gavan said he had “always tried to stay true to Republican Socialist politics” during his time as a Sinn Féin representative. But he added that the party has nominated and endorsed two other candidates for this panel,” Gavan said in his statement last month.
Ursula Gavan told The Journal that it was disappointing to see her husband bow out, describing him as a “great advocate for workers” during his time in the Seanad.
While she said they felt they “could have run a campaign” for the Seanad, it was thought that the lack of “official support from the party” would have caused problems for them and other Sinn Féin candidates, potentially splitting the vote. “He didn’t want to put other members in an awkward position,” Ursula Gavan said of her husband’s decision to step aside.
“My view of the party would be tainted somewhat by the whole experience,” Ursula Gavan said, before adding that you can “never say never” to potentially rejoining at a later date.
Ursula Gavan said she has no issue with Limerick Sinn Féin, instead saying that the “support from them has been huge”.
There have often been claims made of discontent between different factions of the party in Sinn Féin representing different political views, but the councillor insisted that was not at play in Limerick. “There is no story behind the story,” she said.
Instead, Ursula Gavan said the decision was taken by the party’s Ard Comhairle, a committee made up of members from 32 counties.
She added that the decision would have gone then to party HQ and leader Mary Lou McDonald who “ultimately” would have made the final decision.
“We respect the decision but I was kind of left with a difficult decision,” Ursula Gavan said. She added that she has “huge respect” for McDonald’s time as party president.
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