Coalition attacks Mary Lou McDonald for attending ‘Boston barbecue’ instead of bombing anniversary

The two senior government parties have gone on the offensive in a bid to exploit Sinn Féin’s dramatic fall in voter support, with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael yesterday targeting Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald for travelling to the US less than three weeks before the local and European elections.

At the end of a week where one opinion poll showed Sinn Fein support has fallen to 23pc — a new low in recent times — the main coalition parties yesterday asked why the Sinn Féin leader was absent from a 50th anniversary commemorative event for victims of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings — which took place in her own constituency.

They are also stepping up demands that she apologise for attending an IRA funeral at the height of the Covid pandemic.

Yesterday, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said Ms McDonald’s decision to instead go and speak at a US university’s graduation ceremony “shows where her priorities lie”.

A senior member of Taoiseach Simon Harris’s team questioned why Ms McDonald did not attend an event in Dublin marking the 50th anniversary of the 1974 bombing — in the heart of her own constituency — and instead travelled to “Boston for a barbeque”.

However, Sinn Féin dismissed concerns raised about her absence.

“Mary Lou has been in more constituencies than any other leader in the lead-up to the elections, and she will continue to campaign right across the country when she returns,” a frontbench Sinn Féin TD said.

Two opinion polls, including one for this newspaper, suggest that the three main parties — Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin — are locked in a close battle for seats in all three European constituencies and the local elections.

Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Mr O’Brien said: “People are seeing through Sinn Féin’s flip-flopping across the board, they are seeing that they have no policies.

“They’ve been pretty light on the ground in Dublin — and it speaks to their leader’s priorities if she is deciding to spend a weekend in America when we are less than three weeks away from very important elections.”

Yesterday, Tánaiste Micheál Martin also moved to take advantage of Sinn Féin’s long-running difficulties over the 2020 funeral of Provisional IRA enforcer Bobby Storey.

The funeral attracted thousands of people, in breach of Covid rules.

Mr Martin called on Ms McDonald to copy Sinn Féin leader Michelle O’Neill, and “absolutely and unequivocally apologise” for attending the funeral.

Meanwhile, a source close to the Taoiseach said: “Sinn Féin are in disarray — but she’s so confident and cocky about winning the election she’s gone to Boston for a barbeque.

“The Dublin-Monaghan bombing anniversary on Friday was a huge event. The Taoiseach, Tánaiste and President all attended with the families for two hours, but she goes to America and just puts out a statement.”

A Sinn Féin spokesperson said: “Mary Lou McDonald met with the ‘Justice for the Forgotten’ group and families of the victims of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings earlier this week and was represented at the commemorative event held on Friday by Pearse Doherty TD. Sinn Féin TD for Cavan/Monaghan Matt Carthy was also in attendance.”

On Friday, Ms McDonald gave a speech to graduates at Westfield State University in Massachusetts.

Yesterday, she attended a barbeque organised by the John Boyle O’Reilly Club which is an Irish-American organisation whose goal is to “preserve and promote our Irish heritage”.

An online advertisement for the event said burgers were $5 and hot dogs cost $2, while a beer station was set up on the club’s pavilion

A number of Sinn Féin TDs insisted its fall in polling figures and Fine Gael’s rise in support do not reflect the reception from voters during their canvasses.

“The feedback on the doors is that people want change — and Sinn Féin is the only way to get it,” a Sinn Féin TD said.

Another TD said their regular canvass reports show no notable increase in support for Fine Gael, while Sinn Féin’s popularity was not dissimilar to the 2020 general election.

However, there are concerns in Sinn Féin that they may not secure as many seats as hoped due to a lack of incumbent candidates.

Sinn Féin will make gains on its last outing in the local and European elections, which left it with just over 9pc of seats in local authorities and one in the European Parliament.

The party is on course to win at least three seats in Europe and double its representation on councils.

“Housing is still the number one issue on the doors — that is still our greatest strength and the Government’s greatest weakness,” a Sinn Féin TD said.

However, a senior Fianna Fáil member said the middle ground is edging away from Sinn Féin as the campaign progresses.

“They definitely don’t have the support they would have done even six months ago and that is what is coming up on the doors all the time."

However, Fianna Fáil accepts they are going to lose some of the almost 280 council seats they won in the last election. Fine Gael’s strategy is to retain as many of the 253 council seats they won in 2019.

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