‘She will push the boundaries’ – Deputy Marian Harkin congratulates Catherine Connolly

By Philip Rooney, The Sligo Champion

There was no official declaration needed to inform those in attendance of the outcome of voting in the Sligo/Leitrim constituency, with early tally figures matching what opinion polls had been predicting in the weeks leading up to the election.

Deputy Marian Harkin was analysing those early tally figures closely and was able to make some definitive predictions before counting had got underway.

The former maths teacher was full of praise for the Catherine Connolly campaign and the manner in which they were able to galvanise the left leaning vote.

“I looked at the last general election here in Sligo/Leitrim and if you were to put together all the figures for Sinn Féin and the independents and take out Michael Clarke and Aontú which wouldn’t be seen as left-wing, that vote was still well over 50% so Catherine captured every last one of the those votes and that was very clear.”

Another key feature of the early tally figures, which was backed up when counting got underway was the volume of spoilt votes which Deputy Harkin interpreted as an indication that people feel their voices aren’t being heard.

Commenting on the high volume of spoilt votes, Deputy Harkin said, “I’d say it will be between 11% and 12% nationally, that’s one in every eight who took the time to go to the polls saying ‘we don’t want what is in front of us’.

"I was hoping it wouldn’t be that high, I hoped we would have had more people in the race. I did nominate Maria Steen after a certain point because at that point nobody else had a chance of being on the ballot paper. If one in eight or one in nine who have taken the time to go to the polls and do that just to spoil the vote they are saying, ‘we really feel you aren’t listening to us’.”

While they may not be politically aligned, Deputy Harkin expressed the belief that Catherine Connolly will make a good President as she congratulated her on a comprehensive victory.

“I would say the turnout in this constituency will be in the top 10 in the country It’s a great win for her. I know her, I have known her for the last five years. I was one of the five people who nominated her for leas ceann-comhairle, I knew she would do a good job. The reason I didn’t vote for her, politically, I agree with her on lots of things but other things that are very dear to me we have our differences. At no point did I say what they are, I left that to other people but some of the differences would be quite substantial in certain areas.” When asked if she wished to elaborate on those differences, Deputy Harkin replied, “Not really, I didn’t do it before the election so I am not going to do it now.

"There were two very good candidates who both had their strengths. I could tell three weeks ago that this was going to be Catherine Connolly’s. She caught the mood. Her authenticity came across in a way that maybe Heather’s didn’t. One of the things that people liked was that she actually said what she thought and she didn’t resign from it. Maybe some people didn’t agree with everything she said but still appreciated it. “I think she will make a good president. She is a barrister, she understands the constraints of the office and she will push the boundaries which people expect her to do. Good luck to her and her family, it is a great vote.”