Sinn Féin has slightly shuffled the deck ahead of another term in opposition.
Despite winning more seats than in the 2020 general election, Sinn Féin failed to capture the same lightning in a bottle that propelled them in 2020 going from 36 seats to 39.
With Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael teaming up once again to lock Sinn Féin out of government, the party starts the 34th Dáil with a slight change in scenery.
The party’s three high-profile TDs – Mary Lou McDonald, Pearse Doherty and Eoin O’Broin – will remain in their briefs as party president, finance spokesperson and housing spokesperson respectively.
Tuesday’s shuffle had a slight Dublin tinge – O’Broin remaining on housing is an indicator that the party hopes to capture the same energy surrounding housing which served them so well in 2020 and was still a factor in 2024.
With CSO statistics revealing that Ireland actually built fewer houses in 2024 than 2023 and a new government in place, Sinn Féin will be hoping that the housing issue is still as salient the next time the country goes to the polls.
O’Broin’s sparring partner, Fianna Fáil’s Darragh O’Brien, has moved sidewards to the Department Of Transport and Energy with O’Brien’s colleague James Browne taking up the housing brief.
In an opinion piece for the Irish Mail, O’Broin opined that Taoiseach Micheál Martin removed O’Brien from the housing brief after he failed to deliver, remarking “in the end, even Micheal Martin lost confidence in his housing minister Darragh O’Brien.”
The arrival of Rory Hearne onto the national scene for the Social Democrats means that two of the leading voices in opposition surrounding the housing crisis will be from Dublin.
On the Northside, Fingal TD Louise O’Reilly will take up the brief on social protection and rural and community development.
In the last Dáil, O’Reilly served as the party’s spokesperson on enterprise, trade and employment, following on from her stint as the party’s spokesperson on health.
O’Reilly’s counterpart in the government will be Dara Calleary who was named as the new minister for social protection last week.
Other Northside Sinn Féin TDs such as Paul Donnelly in Dublin West and Ann Graves in Dublin Fingal East do not feature in the new line-up.
Southsider Aengus Ó Snodaigh will remain in the role of spokesperson for Gaeilge and the Gaeltacht; Dara Calleary will also serve as the minister over the Gaeltacht and Irish language matters.
Rumblings of a potential post-election heave against party leader McDonald went unfounded, and she was on hand to announce her new front bench.
“We will go toe to toe with this government from day one,” she said.
“We will stand up for working people and fight their corner. We will hold this government to account at every turn, call out every bad policy, every dodgy decision, every failure.”
“We will also work hard to set out and build the political alternative to perpetual Fianna Fail/Fine Gael led governments. To articulate how we will achieve a fair, equal, and united Ireland, a better future for workers, families, and communities. To work with the combined opposition in taking on the government. To persuade and convince more and more people that a better way is possible.”