Heâll have it up his hole now in Laois I reckon. Thereâs obviously Sean Fleming there, he looks solid. Aisling Moran is running, and sheâll pull a few votes. He has his replacement in Sinn Fein Maria McCormack after launching her run last Monday with Mary Lou, and with Charlie gone, Willie Aird is running there now so there might be a few votes to hoover up. Wonât be simple Iâd say.
SINN FĂIN HAS expelled a member of the party after her partner was arrested as part of investigations by the anti-terror Special Detective Unit into far-right extremism.
A number of people are already before the courts in relation to the wider investigation.
It is part of a nationwide and cross border investigation into an alleged plan to bomb a mosque and other locations by a far-right group. A number of arrests have been made and a number of properties have been searched.
âWe will not allow our party to be exposed to any far right elements. The far right have targeted our party for several years now with death threats, pickets on membersâ homes and offices and more recently violent actions.
âWe have worked carefully with the GardaĂ, who have been active and vigilant in the face of these threats,â he said.
Kearney said that the arrest of two people had caused âhuge shockâ and said that the âspeedy actionâ of gardaĂ prevented a âpotentially devastatingâ incident.
âThe party was informed on Friday night that the home of a female party member and her partner had been raided and he has since been arrested.
âThe female party member was expelled from the party on Saturday evening as she failed to notify the party that her home was raided or inform the party about the associated seriousness of this situation.
Speaking to reporters outside leinster House this morning, Matt Carthy, said that the party leadership met on Saturday and decided to immediately expel the woman.
He said there was no indication that there was anyone else in the party involved.
âWe have to be incredibly careful, because we know that the gardaĂ have been very proactive and have been doing a very laudable job in respect of ultimately potentially saving lives.
âWe commend them for the work that they have been doing, and weâre very conscious that we donât say anything that would impede on any inquiries or court cases that might transpire,â he said.
âOn 16 July they were signed in by Senator Maria McCormack for a endometriosis debate in the DĂĄil. On 17 June they were signed in by a staff member in Maria McCormackâs office, at her request, on the day of a housing protest outside the DĂĄil.â