Sinn Féin suffers by-election losses, leader Mary Lou McDonald faces pressure

DUBLIN — Sinn Féin, the main opposition party in Ireland, has lost out to a smaller left-wing rival in Saturday’s by-election result in Dublin — and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is feeling the heat.

A political newcomer, Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats, romped home in Dublin Central following Friday’s vote to fill a parliamentary seat previously held by former Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, who quit last year to join the World Bank. Sinn Féin’s candidate, Janice Boylan, came second.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s most famous gangland figure, Gerry Hutch, finished in fourth place, a credible performance for his eccentric populist campaign. He may seek one of Dublin Central’s four parliamentary seats in the next general election — if he can stay out of prison in Spain, where he lives and is battling a money-laundering probe.

Neither of the center-ground parties in Ireland’s governing coalition — Donohoe’s Fine Gael and Prime Minister Micheál Martin’s Fianna Fáil — were in the running in Dublin. That came as no surprise, given that pro-government candidates rarely win by-elections in Ireland.

The stakes were much higher for McDonald, whose own parliamentary power base is Dublin Central. She was widely expected to deliver a win for the main opposition party on her home turf.

That failure, combined with a more resounding defeat for Sinn Féin in a second by-election race in Galway West, renewed questions about McDonald’s future atop a party she has led since 2018.

McDonald, 57, put a brave face on Saturday’s twin losses in separate press conferences at the Galway and Dublin count centers, flanked by senior party deputies.

“There is no question on the leadership. I am the leader of Sinn Féin,” she said in Galway. “I lead it on days when we’re on a winning streak. I lead us on the days when we’re not lifting the cup.”

Analysts expressed skepticism that Sinn Féin — which saw its national poll lead plummet in the run-up to the 2024 general election — could be privately so blasé about losing in McDonald’s own back yard.

In the Galway West contest, votes were still being counted in Ireland’s complex electoral system, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference and requires multiple rounds of counting to determine the winner. The outcome isn’t expected until Sunday, but it’s already clear that Sinn Féin’s candidate there faces certain elimination.

“It’s a bad day for Sinn Féin because, as the main opposition party, it should be leading and winning these seats,” said Eoin O’Malley, a politics professor at Dublin City University.

Sinn Féin’s loss in Dublin provided a tactical gain for the Social Democrats, a youthful breakaway from Ireland’s traditional party of the unionized left, Labour. Ennis’ victory means the SocDems, as they’re known, have overtaken Labour in parliamentary numbers — and made them second only to Sinn Féin on the opposition benches.

Ennis, a former League of Ireland soccer player, differentiated himself on the campaign trail with outspoken criticism of candidates seeking to stoke up anti-immigrant sentiment. That included Hutch, who called for Somali immigrants to be interned without trial in a former army base.

“We believe in the politics of decency, hope and inclusion,” Ennis said. “People want change, but they want positive change.”