Limerick's Willie O'Dea ‘not unduly worried’ about Sinn Féin government, as he marks 40 years as a TD

WILLIE O’Dea says he is “not unduly worried” at the prospect of a Sinn Féin government after the next general election.

Fianna Fáil’s standard-bearer in the city has often spoken out against Sinn Féin, and was forced to resign from the Cabinet in 2010 after a libel case which saw him pay €100,000 after wrongly linking Maurice Quinlivan to a brothel.

Mr O’Dea – who has marked his fourth decade in the Dail – does not believe it’s a given that the opposition will be the largest party next time out.

It comes despite opinion polls showing a consistent lead for Mary Lou McDonald’s charges.

“It doesn’t worry me unduly, because there is a long way to go until the next election. Things can change very dramatically even at the last minute as they did the last time. Regardless of what Sinn Fein say, there is no way they will implement some of the policies they talk about if they were in government. They would wreck the economy, and they wouldn’t want to be facing the electorate having done that.”

Mr O’Dea said while he initially supported Fianna Fail’s confidence-and-supply deal with Fine Gael after the 2016 election, he feels the party should have left sooner.

“There was no economic crisis, at the time. There was no particular reason to delay. Historians will look back on that period, and wonder, what were Fianna Fail at? Why did they jeopardise themselves electorally when there was no compelling reason that’s ever been pointed out,” he said.

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Instead, the 2020 election saw Fianna Fáil return only one seat ahead of Sinn Féin, with Mr O’Dea losing his polltopper crown to Mr Quinlivan. It was a far cry from his 2007 zenith when he had the second highest vote in the country, only behind Brian Cowen.

Then, he had two running mates. Now, he thinks candidate selection should be left until the last minute.

“One thing we learnt at the last election was candidate selection too early can do more harm than  good. Two strong candidates can cancel each other out, and you both lose a seat. This happened in a number of constituencies,” he concluded.