Louth Fianna Fáil councillor welcomes Fianna Fáil/SDLP merger reports

Following newspaper reports that Fianna Fáil and the SDLP are in talks over a possible merger in Northern Ireland, the Dundalk Democrat spoke to Louth Fianna Fáil councillor Emma Coffey, to get her views.

Cllr Coffey said she welcomed such moves as a positive step, referring back to Michael Martin's comments in 2014, when he said he wanted Fianna Fáil to contest the 2019 local elections in Northern Ireland.

Against a backdrop of an upcoming Brexit, Cllr Coffey believes this can only be seen as a positive step and sees Fianna Fail as a credible alternative for “middleground thinking people of Northern Ireland.”

In terms of Fianna Fáil ever taking up seats in Westminster, should the party contest a general election in Northern Ireland, Cllr Coffey says that while such an event would be a “long long way off”, it is something she would agree to, if the conditions were right.

While such a scenario would be a “long way off”, Cllr Coffey said that, “given Brexit turned everything on its head”, all options would have to be considered.

She stressed however, that “at the end of the day for Fianna Fáil to do this, it has to come from a grass roots level.” Candidates she says, would be local to that particular area, it would not be a case of “parachuting candidates in”.

“In principle”, she said, “I don't believe it will be an issue.”

She referred back to her view that a Fianna Fáil/SDLP merger would be an alternative for middleground thinking people in Northern Ireland, saying they would be “a voice for those [people] in Westminster”, and that therefore her answer to that particular question is “definitely not a no”.