Social Democrats will hold onto the posters

By Stephen Corrigan

The Social Democrats new standard bearer for Galway West has not ruled out the possibility of another General Election before the end of the year.

Niall Ó Tuaithail made the remarks as he was eliminated on the 11th count after polling strongly with 5,278 votes.

“Who knows, we might have an election in six months’ time again so we won’t be throwing away the posters,” he said.

The first-time candidate believed that the short election campaign hampered his chances of taking a seat in the constituency, and the success of the newly formed party nationwide.

“What damaged us a bit was the shortness of the election campaign, it’s the shortest campaign in the history of the state, we had big momentum and if we had an extra two weeks, anything would have been possible,” he explained.

Despite this, Mr Ó Tuaithail was positive about the future of the party, pointing out that their three leaders had topped the poll in their respective constituencies.

While he admitted that the party had not yet ruled out entering any coalition that may be formed following Friday’s inconclusive election result, he did say “We’re not desperate to go into government.”

Praising the work of his team, Mr Ó Tuaithail said he was very happy with the figures he achieved in the polls.

“We’re very happy with the result, and I think that people want a new party that has integrity and has good values and has a good policy platform. And I think the sky is the limit now for the Social Democrats,” he said.

Looking to his own political future, Mr Ó Tuaithaill said a period of reflection would be needed before he decides on any future plans.

“We’ll take a week or two to decompress and then come together as a group and figure out the next plans,” he said.