A Sinn Féin candidate would not divide the left-wing vote in the presidential election, according to party leader Mary Lou McDonald.
“There’s mixed views across the party,” Ms McDonald said on whether Sinn Féin will field a candidate, and whether that candidate would be her.
The party has options, she said, adding that decisions will need to be made over the next couple of weeks. “Like the rest of the party, I’m weighing things up in my own mind.”
Although Independent TD Catherine Connolly is running for the presidency, Ms McDonald said she does not think a Sinn Féin contestant would divide the left-wing vote. Co-operation between the Opposition parties “has been really, really powerful at moments in the course of this Dáil”.
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But, within a proportional representation system, “transfers decide those elections”, she said.
The party will weigh things up and arrive at the best decision, she said. “My bigger hope is that the campaign is actually a space for us to have an important and serious political conversation about Ireland – that it doesn’t turn into a personality contest”.
Ms McDonald was speaking during a boxing exhibition in Dublin’s Sheriff Street, where visiting Palestinian boxers from El Barrio club played against the Docklands Boxing Club.
What is happening in Palestine “is a demonstration of evil in our time”, she said. “It is genocide playing out in real time and unfortunately too many people are simply standing by and watching.”
Hosting the Sinn Féin-organised event, she called for “a more proactive stance from the Department [of Justice]” on the granting of visas for Palestinians to attend events such as this. The call comes in the wake of the cancellation of a planned trip to bring a group of Palestinian hurlers to Ireland.
The paperwork “has to be in good order”, she added.
The six Palestinians over for the boxing trip are being hosted by the community, and include Tamer Tourjman (20) from Jerusalem, who has been boxing for more than five years. He was here for a month before on a boxing tour, and will stay for a week to participate in a training session with Olympic champion Kellie Harrington on Tuesday. The group will also go to Waterford, Drogheda, Dundalk and Belfast.
Nada Al Khawaja (18) is a business student from Ramallah and the only woman on the team. “Being a woman boxer, especially in Palestine, is something new in our culture,” she said. “People give me that look [of] ‘what are you doing’ when I tell them I am boxing.”
Ms Al Khawaja said Ramallah is not a safe place but it is the safest in Gaza and has not experienced the same massive destruction as elsewhere.
Palestinian and Irish flags festooned Sheriff Hall and playing fields for the visitors and locals who gathered for the event, while a banner displayed the messages: “Show Israel the Red Card”, “Let Palestine Live” and “Do not play with Israeli apartheid”.
As the visitors were awaited, musicians played traditional Irish music and Sheriff street-born singer and songwriter Christian Elliott performed. Later, Azia Abushark, a Palestinian who has lived in Ireland permanently since 2015, played the Kanun, a traditional Middle Eastern stringed instrument. His family in southern Gaza calls him every week or fortnight. “They are living in a tent with no food – only bread and water”.
Palestinian ambassador Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid told the audience: “It seems that every day there are more brutal, more savage actions taken by the Israelis towards the people in Gaza as well as in the West Bank.”
Asked about the recent Hamas video showing emaciated hostages and about criticism of the footage by President Michael D Higgins, she said: “The taking of hostages is something that we do not agree with”. She also disagreed with the “killing of innocents on both sides”.
Dr Wahba Abdalmajid said the hostages with Hamas are being starved like everyone in Gaza. She expressed respect for President Higgins and his “position towards justice and towards international law”.
