DEPUTY LEADER of Sinn Féin has confirmed she will seek nomination for the position of President of Sinn Féin.
According to The Irish Times, the Dublin Central TD made the announcement at a party selection convention in her constituency this evening.
She said the new head of the party would be elected at a special Ard Fheis, by vote of the membership, in an “open, democratic process."
Paying tribute to outgoing president Gerry Adams, Ms McDonald said he was “unique, exceptional, inspirational," and more than any other Gerry Adams had driven the growth and success of Sinn Féin and republican politics across Ireland, she said.
Commenting on the recent political crisis in which a Christmas election was averted, Ms McDonald said an election could happen “at any time so we must be prepared."
She said the “so-called new politics of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil has been exposed as a cosy arrangement between two parties who believe that they and they alone have the right to govern, to decide, to run things."
She said the confidence and supply arrangement in government was “only ever a manoeuvre to occupy both government and opposition benches, to frustrate the voice of genuine new politics, to stop the advance of Sinn Féin."
The convention heard criticism of Government policy on homelessness, on childcare and on policing.
Ms McDonald said a “progressive republican Government” was needed, which was not for self-advancement or government “at any cost."
She said the party would fight the next election to maximise its vote, its mandate and its numbers of TDs and senators.
Ms McDonald was the only candidate for selection for the constituency on Monday night and she accepted the nomination after she was proposed from the floor.
In her speech, Ms McDonald noted the party had grown “substantially” in a very short period of time. She said this had brought great “energy and positivity to our politics."
See More: Featured, Irish, Mary Lou Mcdonald, Sinn Féin
