Fianna Fáil's Forum in Enniskillen last Saturday has already borne fruit. Gerry McHugh, one-time Sinn Féin MLA and district councillor, has announced that he is joining Fianna Fáil, and will thus become their first MLA – indeed their first representative to actually participate in legislative politics north of the border (Eamon de Valera was famously elected to the old Stormont Parliament in 1933 for South Down, but never took his seat).
Fianna Fáil is registered as a party in Northern Ireland, so nothing stops McHugh from operating as the first Fianna Fáil MLA. How many more will there be, before and after the Assembly election in 2011?
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7 comments:
If FF's intention was to attract middle-class former Unionists, and Catholics of a very plae green, what are we to make of their first public representative in the North having abandoned Sinn Féin in protest at their 'softness' on British rule?
Was this okayed by FF HQ, I wonder?
Bizarre.
Nordie Northsider -
Looks like he's not a FF representitive.
From the BBC report -
Independent assembly member, Gerry McHugh, has joined the party but will continue to sit as an independent.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8387810.stm
Thanks for that, Mack. Best of both worlds for FF - the ability to boast some presence in the Assembly while keeping some distance between themselves and potentially controversial recruits. I never said that they weren't clever...
According to the Irish Times Fianna Fail have as many members at QUB as they have at UCD.
Yes, I can really see the point of that. LOL
Make no mistake, Fianna Fail are expanding by organic growth, not aquisition.
Unlike the Tories they are here to stay.
This is a classic long term strategy lads !
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