Overview
- Mary Lou McDonald, in a televised keynote on Saturday, urged voters to back Sinn Féin in the Dublin Central and Galway West by-elections and said she will lead the party into the next general election.
- She called for an emergency mini‑budget that cuts fuel excise, removes carbon tax on home heating oil and green diesel, delivers €400 in electricity credits, boosts welfare with a €500 disability payment, and lowers the USC with an initial €500 return to each worker.
- Reports of discontent trailed the gathering, but senior figures rallied behind McDonald as members also rejected party HQ’s preferred Dublin Central candidate at a selection convention.
- Delegates narrowly supported a fox hunting ban after a heated debate that paused for an evacuation at Belfast’s ICC, highlighting tensions between rural and urban members.
- Sinn Féin cited polling at 26% nationally and acknowledged weaker recent support in the North, sharpening focus on whether it can turn opinion leads into wins in the near‑term contests.