Sinn Féin red faced over leaflet “mistake”

Sinn Féin election strategists in Dublin have been left red faced after mistakenly publishing a leaflet claiming their Clare General Election candidate, Noeleen Moran is a local county councillor.
Householders in Clare were left feeling somewhat confused when a general election pamphlet seeking a No. 1 from “Cllr Noeleen Moran” was dropped through their letterbox.
Although the Ballyvaughan woman secured 1,050 votes in the last 2014 Local Elections when she ran as a Sinn Féin candidate in the West Clare Municipal District, she was not elected to Clare County Council.
Speaking to the Clare Champion on the canvass trail on Friday afternoon, Ms Moran described the reference as a “typographical mistake”.
The election leaflet also stated the information was printed by local Sinn Féin Councillor, Mike McKee, whose Shannon address was also included.
However, Councillor McKee insisted that he did not print these leaflets, which were published by party headquarters in Dublin.
Councillor McKee explained his name was included in the leaflet because he is acting as her election agent.
“I didn’t proof read these election envelopes, which were done in Dublin. Most of the Sinn Féin candidates who are running in the General Election are councillors, so someone wrongly presumed Noeleen Moran is a county councillor.
“Noeleen Moran got a very good vote in the last Local Elections considering she only officially declared two weeks before voting day. It is a misprint,” he said.

Dan Danaher