Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley

Eibhlín Seoighthe has confirmed that she will not be contesting the Galway West bye-election – but not before ruffling a few feathers on the Left.

The former Social Democrat, now Independent Galway City Councillor was co-convenor of Catherine Connolly’s successful Galway City Presidential election campaign.

As such, many national political observers, removed from Galway West, rated her as a serious contender to hold Connolly’s Dáil seat in the April/May bye-election.

But she confirmed last weekend what many local political observers in Galway had suspected since November – Seoighthe had no appetite for a Dáil bye-election.

Her statement announcing that she would not contest the bye-election came just days before Sheila Garrity, a long-time Catherine Connolly confidante, and convenor of the Galway City Connolly campaign last year, threw her hat into the ring. A coincidence? Perhaps.

Seoighthe’s withdrawal also came soon after she was tackled about an article in a national newspaper that appeared to be critical of Sinn Féin in Galway West, suggesting they were reluctant advocates of Left unity.

“Shortly after the [Presidential] election I reached out to all the political parties. Sinn Féin were the only one that I couldn’t get hold of. I spoke to the other parties about the potential of getting behind a united left candidate for the bye-election. I felt there was an appetite for it,” she was quoted as saying.

Mark Lohan, the chairperson of Sinn Féin in Galway West, had a different recollection of events, however.

Lohan, a former Galway City Councillor, claimed he had asked to meet Seoighthe three times but “she kept putting it off”.

The SIPTU official – who hopes to contest the bye-election for Sinn Féin – said after he read Seoighthe’s take, he contacted her again to remind her that his three previous attempts at meeting her were rebuffed or ignored.

“The Left taking cheap shots at each other is the opposite of what the CC (Catherine Connolly) campaign was about. We need to work together constructively,” he said.

We hear Lohan and Seoighthe did eventually meet last Friday and had a constructive chat, a day before the City Central councillor announced she was not contesting the bye-election.

It’s understood Seoighthe alleged she was misquoted in the national newspaper article; Lohan said he made it clear that the comments were “an attempt to paint Sinn Féin in a poor and uncooperative light”.

Both individuals have moved on, but the episode highlighted chinks in the armour of Left unity, which could scupper its chances of holding Catherine Connolly’s seat.

Pictured: Councillor Eibhlín Seoighthe, pictured with Catherine Connolly at the Galway West count centre after the 2024 General Election, has announced she will not contest the bye-election to fill President Connolly’s seat. But not before taking what has been described as a ‘cheap shot’ at Sinn Féin.