{"id":487663,"date":"2026-05-16T12:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T12:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/487663\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T12:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T12:11:13","slug":"following-the-canvass-frustrations-emerge-in-dublin-central-sinn-fein-heartland-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/487663\/","title":{"rendered":"Following the canvass: Frustrations emerge in Dublin central Sinn F\u00e9in heartland \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former taoiseach and Dublin Central TD Bertie Ahern<\/a> was fond of telling his charges that it was best to campaign with the sun on your back. <\/p>\n

The teams from Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a> and Fine Gael<\/a> that fanned out across different parts of the constituency midweek enjoyed a bit of fine weather \u2013 although both had to contend with squalling rain and cold winds.<\/p>\n

In Cabra, on Wednesday afternoon, more recent words from Ahern were dominating headlines after the former taoiseach\u2019s comments on immigration were covertly recorded during a canvass by Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Irish Times\u2019 polling shows that immigration is the third most important issue for voters in Dublin Central<\/a>, cited by 12 per cent of voters in the constituency.<\/p>\n

The cost of living (33 per cent) and house prices (24 per cent) far eclipse immigration as a concern. However, it does outscore health, the economy, and law and order in voter concerns. <\/p>\n

On Wednesday, as a team of 16 Sinn F\u00e9in TDs and volunteers departed from party leader Mary Lou McDonald\u2019s constituency office, their candidate Janice Boylan rigorously stuck to the party line on immigration. She claimed not to have seen or heard Ahern\u2019s comments, but said they sounded like \u201cbad form\u201d if they were as described to her by The Irish Times. <\/p>\n

Boylan, who leads the pack in The Irish Times\u2019 polling on 21 per cent<\/a>, narrowly ahead of the Social Democrats candidate Daniel Ennis (18 per cent), said that what\u2019s coming up for her is \u201cthe cost of living, housing, childcare … additional needs school places and SNAs\u201d. Voters, Boylan says, are \u201ctelling you that they\u2019re struggling\u201d.<\/p>\n

The presence of McDonald on the canvass in the Sinn F\u00e9in heartland ensured plenty of interactions on the streets \u2013 up to and including displays of devotion as one woman embraced her outside Centra on Fassaugh Avenue, telling the Sinn F\u00e9in leader she had managed to convert her English father and Fine Gael husband into Sinn F\u00e9in voters. <\/p>\n

\"DublinDublin Central constituency candidates, including Sinn F\u00e9in’s Janice Boylan listen as activists call for special needs assistant funding to be addressed. Photo:Sam Boal\/Collins <\/p>\n

The voter, Louse Wright, afterwards told The Irish Times that an interaction on the doorstep with McDonald when she was 16 had made her into a lifelong Sinn F\u00e9in voter. \u201cShe always had time for the youth of the community and I really appreciated that.\u201d <\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not all plain sailing for Sinn F\u00e9in out on the canvass. As they depart up the street, a group of young men shout (after the Sinn F\u00e9in team have gone a fair distance) that they\u2019re \u201ctraitors\u201d. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Janice Boylan leads Dublin Central byelection race with Gerry Hutch in third, poll showsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

None of them, some wearing face coverings, will give their names to The Irish Times, but one says they think Sinn F\u00e9in are \u201cw****rs\u201d, while another suggests the party has in some way betrayed the republicanism typified by the Provisional IRA in Belfast.<\/p>\n

A while later, a white van passes McDonald and Boylan at speed, one occupant again shouting \u201ctraitors\u201d. One Sinn F\u00e9in staffer on the canvass said that sort of interaction was rare enough.<\/p>\n

But the interactions on the doors are overwhelmingly positive, sprinkled with the usual grab bag of local issues \u2013 e-scooters, or for one voter called Brendan Hammond, animal cruelty: he complains of seeing \u201chorses being punched in the face\u201d in the nearby Phoenix Park. <\/p>\n

Darragh, a 20-year-old student teacher, tells McDonald and Boylan of his frustrations, afterwards spelling out to The Irish Times that he will probably leave Ireland due to the property market, although he hopes to return \u201cbecause I love Ireland more than anyone else, but at the moment it\u2019s not happening\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"CouncillorCouncillor Ray McAdam, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, canvasses in Marino for a seat in the Dublin Central byelection. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

The following day, Fine Gael\u2019s candidate Ray McAdam is canvassing on the very eastern edge of the constituency, where Fairview meets Marino. <\/p>\n

McAdam, a long-time councillor and staffer for departed TD Paschal Donohoe (and current Lord Mayor of Dublin), uses his political patron\u2019s name often on the doors, telling one voter that \u201cthe one thing I learned from Paschal over 17 years is to get out talking to people\u201d. His canvass team is bolstered by former Fine Gael TD Richard Bruton, who represented nearby Dublin Bay North \u2013 which this part of the constituency was hived off from in 2020. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0What the poll numbers tell us in Dublin CentralOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Cavan native McAdam\u2019s main pitch to voters is that a Government TD in the constituency (which has three Opposition TDs) will be a more effective advocate than another Opposition voice, a point he makes repeatedly on the doors. <\/p>\n

One voter \u2013 a special needs assistant living in Griffith Court, the quiet estate where McAdam is canvassing, is highly critical of the situation on the ground, describing Government policies for special needs as \u201crubbish\u201d. When McAdam sympathises, she says: \u201cIt\u2019s your party that brought it in!\u201d<\/p>\n

He tells her that he has told Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton his views on shortcomings in the area, asking her: \u201cDo you want a Government voice who can sort these things out or a fourth Opposition TD who will talk about the problem, highlight what the problem is, but they won\u2019t be able to do anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She tells McAdam that he will have one vote in the house \u2013 but she remains on the fence. <\/p>\n

\"SupportersSupporters for councillor Ray McAdam, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, canvass in Marino for a seat in the Dublin Central byelection. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Another voter, Colm O\u2019Rourke, shares his concern about far-right politics in the constituency, particularly what he later describes to The Irish Times as \u201cmisrepresentation\u201d by using the national flag to convey a message of \u201cintolerance\u201d. <\/p>\n

McAdam, too, skirts any extensive commentary on the Ahern controversy \u2013 backing what his party leader said earlier that day in the D\u00e1il.<\/p>\n

Gerry Hutch’s truck makes the rounds during the Dublin Central campaign in Marino. Video: Chris Maddaloni <\/p>\n

As McAdam marches down Philipsburgh Avenue, the suburban quiet is disturbed by a Nissan van emblazoned with posters for rival candidate and veteran criminal Gerry Hutch, blaring out a sort of trad-infused techno as it travels north towards Griffith Avenue. <\/p>\n

With a week to go, big parties like Sinn F\u00e9in and Fine Gael will be hoping the conversations on the doors can match the noise from passing vans. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former taoiseach and Dublin Central TD Bertie Ahern was fond of telling his charges that it was best…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,106968,18,13,14,4771,553,92241,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,47,7,8],"class_list":["post-487663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-dublin-central-constituency","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-fianna-fail","tag-fine-gael","tag-gerry-hutch","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-sinn-fein","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116584192281273422","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}