One thing we know at the halfway mark of this campaign is that change is emerging as an overarching theme, writes MaryERegan
One thing we know at the halfway mark of this campaign is that change is emerging as an overarching theme.
For Sinn Féin, the objective is to present itself as the agent of a deeper more fundamental change that can cast off the old-fashioned tribalism of Irish politics and replace it with a something entirely new.As she took to the floor of the Claire Byrne Live debate studio in NUI Galway last night, Mary Lou McDonald cast herself as the outsider, the anti-politician figure.
It is a theme that continued when Sinn Féin launched its manifesto this afternoon. "Do voters want more of the same? Or do they want change that will solve the housing crisis, put money back in people’s pockets, deliver public services and plan for Irish unity," asked Ms McDonald. Recent experience - of both the marriage equality and Repeat the Eighth referendum campaigns - tells us that younger voters are mobilised by issues in a way that they are not by party politics.
Their manifesto has just been launched and with their surge in the polls, Sinn Féin is likely to come under far greater scrutiny. Ms McDonald used an interesting phrase when she said her party "would not trespass on the legitimate structures of government". There are many areas where it is left with a seriously diminished number of councillors following a poor showing in last year’s local elections.
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