Hayes adamant he won’t rejoin SF despite Mary Lou’s ‘nice’ words

WEST Cork councillor Paul Hayes has ruled out any return to Sinn Féin despite party leader Mary Lou McDonald telling The Southern Star last week that there is ‘always a place and a space in Sinn Féin’ for him.

Deputy McDonald was in Bandon last week to give support for her party’s candidates in this year’s local and European elections.

Hayes quit the party in 2020 following his unsuccessful Dáil bid and cited the lack of party support during his campaign as one of his reasons for leaving.

Asked about the popular Courtmacsherry-based councillor, Deputy McDonald said she knows Cllr Hayes very well.

‘He knows that I think the absolute world of him, and if he hears about this, there is always a place and a space in Sinn Féin for Paul Hayes. I think he knows that,’ she said.

However, Cllr Hayes told The Southern Star that while the party leader’s comments about him were nice and amicable, he would respectfully decline any invitation to rejoin Sinn Féin.

‘I made the break in 2020 after the general election and Seanad campaigns, and I have been an independent councillor for the last number of years and I have got on well,’ said Cllr Hayes.

‘I’ve also made the decision not to contest the upcoming local elections this June, as an independent or otherwise, and I’ll be stepping back from politics for the foreseeable.’

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou said she was hopeful that both Clare O’Callaghan (Bandon Kinsale LEA ) and Donnchadh Ó Seaghdha (Skibbereen West Cork LEA) will secure seats for the party in Cork County Council, and that Senator Paul Gavan can secure a European seat in Ireland South, on June 7th.

‘Last time around we had a hard day out, but we have worked extremely hard since then, and we’ve enjoyed great support across the country and here in West Cork,’ she said.

‘We take nothing for granted and you earn every single vote and work hard for your community and the campaign is now underway.’

However, her comments during a Bandon press conference regarding community safety being an issue in the town upset some locals.

The Dublin TD said safety was one of the issues which came up a few times, when talking to people on her walkabout that day.

‘I was a bit taken aback that the issue of community safety was such a huge thing in Bandon,’ she said.

‘I know this is the reality across the board, and we’ve seen the CSO crime figures and we know that the gardaí are under pressure resource-wise, and that’s a bad scenario,’ she told The Southern Star, in an interview posted on the Star’s social media.

One woman responded to the post, saying she has lived in Bandon for 35 years and has never once felt unsafe.

‘I am furious at this false depiction of our town of Bandon. Luckily we have fantastic councillors and volunteers who work tirelessly for this wonderful town.’

Another Bandonian queried if the Sinn Féin leader had visited the Riverside park area.

‘Bandon has the best play facilities for young people of any town in Munster, bar none,’ they said.

Meanwhile, the Sinn Féin leader added that the case for calling a general election has never been more pressing and that this government has ‘run out of steam’.

‘It’s very clear that this current government can only stagger on if the independents play ball. We’re heading into our third Taoiseach in four years and that’s clearly not a  good situation and this government has run out of ideas.