Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik has criticised Sinn Féin for “dithering” over its decision on whether or not to support Catherine Connolly’s presidential election campaign.
Speaking in Co Tipperary on Thursday at Labour’s think-in, Ms Bacik said it was “extraordinary” and “bizarre” that Sinn Féin had not yet reached a decision on running its own candidate or supporting another.
She said the party was “sitting on the sidelines, effectively waiting to see what way the wind blows” and that she did not think leaving the decision so late was appropriate.
“We moved decisively as a party. We have a clear strategic goal,” she said. “We are about growing and uniting the left, looking forward to the next general election, when we want to deliver a left-led government.”
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Ms Bacik later said Labour has ideological differences with conservative parties like Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael as well as with Sinn Féin, which is “nationalist” and “populist”.
However, she said she nonetheless wanted to build a common left platform and the presidential election was “the most immediate way” to do this.
Ms Bacik was speaking to reporters in Nenagh in advance of her party’s think-in, which she said would focus on the political term ahead, the budget and the presidential election.
Labour justice spokesman Alan Kelly last week criticised the party’s decision to back Ms Connolly, a former Labour member, and said he would not be supporting her campaign.
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Mr Kelly, who is hosting the think-in in his Tipperary North constituency, said he wanted to address the “elephant in the room” regarding his interview last week.
He said he accepted the party had reached a democratic decision to support Ms Connolly, but indicated that his “very clear” position, and that of the party in Tipperary North, had not shifted.
In a combined vote of the parliamentary party and executive board, Ms Bacik said, 86 per cent backed Ms Connolly, and 58 per cent of members supported the decision in a wider survey.
Mr Kelly said Labour can have disagreements and “still be one of the most progressive, direct speaking and honest parties”.
Ms Bacik would not comment on her discussions with Mr Kelly following his interview, including whether she had considered moving the think-in from his constituency.
She said she was not, at this stage of her political career, going to start disclosing the details of private conversations.
Mr Kelly rejected the suggestion that if Ms Connolly failed to win the election, it would undermine the party leader’s position.
Ms Bacik said a decision had not been reached on whether or how Labour would support Ms Connolly’s campaign. “The nature of the backing is still being worked out.”
She said she was glad Ms Connolly had distanced herself from the politics of former journalist Gemma O’Doherty, who sought support for a presidential bid in 2018. About that time, Ms O’Doherty had expressed scepticism about vaccination campaigns.
Limerick City TD Conor Sheehan said he was supporting Ms Connolly but wished she had a different position on the Ukraine war. In 2022, he commented on a social media post by Ms Connolly suggesting that she was “drawing false equivalences” in her commentary on the conflict.
Asked about the post, Ms Bacik said she was “very clear” that Ms Connolly had expressed her solidarity with Ukraine and her rejection of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Mr Sheehan said he was making his call to support Ms Connolly based on what he had experienced since being elected to the Dáil.
“Do I wish she would adopt a stronger position in relation to Ukraine? Of course I do,” he added.
“But on the broad issues, particularly in relation to Gaza, I would be very, very strong in my support for her and that’s why I backed her as a candidate.”
