NICOLE Ryan’s impressive performance for Sinn Féin in Cork North West – 5,452 first preference votes – has certainly marked her out as a candidate to watch out in the future.
Sinn Féin had come in for some criticism four years ago when the party failed to field a candidate in Cork North West during an election that saw the party record an unexpected bounce.
Speaking to The Southern Star in the count centre at the Mallow GAA complex last Saturday, Nicole, who works as an addiction counsellor, said they ran an unbelievable campaign.
‘We had six weeks to do it and some of the other candidates have run multiple times before and to blow some out of the water as a first time candidate is fantastic, and I’m really proud of myself,’ she said.
‘People were really nice and they were hungry for change. We travelled the whole of Cork North West essentially, over the past few weeks. It has been a phenomenal campaign and without my team I wouldn’t have run such a good campaign.’
Nicole said the party’s decision not to run a candidate in 2020 actually played out well for them this time.
‘It has actually paved a way for a Sinn Féin TD in Cork North West, which is probably one of the hardest constituencies to break through. And if it’s not me today, it will be someone in the future for sure – the vote is there.’
Nicole added that she’s in Sinn Féin for the long haul and will continue to work within her community on numerous issues.
‘I don’t think anyone is going to underestimate me the next time around and hopefully a change can come in five years’ time,’ she said.
Nicole was eliminated in the fifth count with 7,530 votes, having gained 1,146 transfers from Aontú’s Becky Kealy after her elimination.
By the end of the fifth count, the 31-year-old, was only 490 votes being Fine Gael’s Michael Creed, who came in fourth, but failed to secure a seat.
