Sinn Féin's rising star looking to make his mark in Longford

The main Opposition party has continued to take high rank at national political level, securing a record 37 seats in the 2020 general election.

Locally, those inroads have been more insipid with no sitting councillor at local authority level since 2009 when Brendan Farrell was ousted in the now defunct Longford Town Council.

Fast forward the best part of a decade and a half and the party is very much focused on tapping into a simmering anti-government sentiment by returning at least one, and possibly more, seats at local electoral level.

One of the early names to be linked with running for the party is Cullyfad based father of two James Donnelly.

The Operations Manager for Longford Town Football Club by day, James has made no secret of his own political designs, heading up an active online social media presence as well as speaking publicly at last November’s Sinn Féin Ard Fheis.

He hopes his vibrant, can do attitude will strike a chord with voters when ballot boxes open in 12 months time.

“I am 30 next week and I do think it is time for a younger voice, someone who can go in there and offer a fresh perspective,” he said.

One of his key areas of interest is housing and the lack of new social houses that have come on stream in a county, like many others, that has been beset by skyrocketing prices.

“In Longford, we don’t have a lot of emergency accommodation to help struggling families and it’s something we need to address.”

But it’s not just headline issues like housing which has attracted the political ire of Sinn Féin’s local area representative. “A big one for me is the whole area of the arts and sport which isn’t getting the attention it deserves,” he said.

“There is no real definitive council owned space to promote the work of musicians, artists and performers and I would like to see a building of some sort come on stream.”

The Leader understands Sinn Féin strategists plan on holding selection conventions over the coming weeks with one, if not two candidates standing for election in the north of the county.