SINN Féin’s chief press officer, Joe Lynch, who is running for the party in next month’s local elections in Cork City South West, has strong West Cork – as well as Fine Gael – roots, with his grandmother hailing from Drinagh.
This is Joe’s first time running for a council seat but he has vast political experience, having served as an advisor to the party’s current leader, Mary Lou McDonald as well as its former leader Gerry Adams.
Speaking to The Southern Star, Joe, who is from Ballincollig, said his parents are from Aherla and Ovens, while his grandmother was Mary Coakley.
‘She grew up in Drinagh and was there until her mid 20s before moving to London. She fell in love with a Limerick man by the name of O’Sullivan and in the early 70s they moved back to Aherla and settled there.
‘My grandmother’s family would be strong Fine Gael supporters, while my granduncle who had the farm there was very active in the party. I used to go there regularly in my youth, and still have relations there.’
At the age of 17 while still in Leaving Cert, Joe joined Sinn Féin and remained a member while studying accounting and later a master’s in government at UCC.
‘As I was coming towards the end of college I applied for an administration job at the party headquarters in Dublin. From there I went over to Leinster House working for Gerry Adams, which I found very interesting. I was working on researching speeches and generally helping out with parliamentary affairs.’
When Mary Lou McDonald then became party leader, he worked for her in similar roles, such as preparing Dáil questions for her.
‘I worked for her for two years and following the 2019 local elections there was a shake up and they asked me to be head of the Sinn Féin press office, which I’m still doing.’
Having lived in Dublin for a number of years, he moved back to Ballincollig during the pandemic and travels to Dublin for two days a week.
‘I decided last summer after a fair bit of thought that I would run, as the party was seeking another candidate to run in Cork City South West.’
Interestingly enough, the party is running three candidates in this constituency and Joe said they have learned valuable lessons from the 2020 general election and the need to have enough candidates running.
‘So far, the issue I’m coming across while canvassing is housing as well as local services. For example, the garda station in Ballincollig is only open 15 hours a week to serve a population of over 20,000 people. We also have a fire station lying idle for two-and-a- half years and that’s simply not good enough.’
He certainly feels Ballincollig is worse off since it was brought into Cork city. He also believes Sinn Féin are in a good position to win three seats in this constituency, and is hoping the party can win back seats in Cork County Council, where currently there are no sitting Sinn Féin councillors.
For now, he is knocking on doors, while also hoping that his cousins down west will wish him well in next month’s election, despite their political differences.
