Clarke looking forward to getting back to office
Once the votes were tallied early on Saturday, there was no doubt that Sorca Clarke was going to be re-elected, but the manner in which she got across the line was noting short of spectacular.
When her running mate Barry Campion was eliminated on the 12th count on 2,987 votes, most thought it would take another count or two for Clarke to reach the quota of 10,315, as she needed 1,790 votes. However, through impressive vote management, she gained 2,353 (70%) of Campion’s votes to comfortably surpass the quota.
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner after her reelection was confirmed, a delighted Clarke noted that this time around Sinn Féin were in uncharted territory in Longford Westmeath. “It is the first time we ran two candidates and it requires a lot of management and it requires a very different campaign. In my opinion, our vote management couldn’t have worked better.”
Clarke believes that her reelection and the performance of Campion in his first general election is the beginning of a new era for Sinn Féin in the constituency.
“I make no apologies for being politically ambitious for this constituency. I want to see new people come in, I want to see them get involved, and I want to see them be elected. But for that to happen, the path has to be laid for them to be able to do that.
“We returned two councillors in local elections, in Mullingar and in the Kinnegad LEA.
“We still have a considerable amount of work to do there, but I would hope, at some point, that Barry would have the opportunity in his own right to be a representative for the constituency. He’s a phenomenal candidate, he has a bright future in politics.”
Looking back at her campaign, Clarke said that the cost of living crisis was the big issue on the doorsteps across the constituency.
“I have been campaigning for well over two decades on various different issues. I have never seen the amount of people opening the doors in the evening in their coats.”
“It goes across all sectors, the cost of living crisis. There’s a very small minority of people that would consider themselves unaffected.”
Clarke says that she is looking forward to representing the people of Longford Westmeath in the new Dáil.
“I want to get back to work. This is what we do, this is what we’re good at. We represent people, and election campaigns, while they may come and go, and there’s certainly highs and lows to them all, they are a distraction from that work in some ways. So I’m looking forward to getting back into the office.”