Former Sinn Fein Cllr David Doran has branded as GUBU the manner in which the party selected its Tipperary candidate for the General Election.
The Thurles based representative stepped down from Sinn Fein after 25 years with the political organisation citing a number of issues with his former party.
Tipperary County Councillor David Doran joined the Sinn Féin Party in college, and has been a member of the party for a quarter of a century.
He was the first ever Sinn Féin councillor to be elected to Thurles town council in 2004, and he served there, and subsequently in the Thurles Municipal District.
Up to now he was the longest serving Sinn Féin councillor in Tipperary.
His resignation comes off the back of a feeling of growing distance between his beliefs and those of Sinn Fein.
Cllr Doran was also unhappy with how last year’s general election selection convention was conducted – only women were allowed to put their names forward.
It resulted in sitting Cllr Catherine Carey losing out to Ciara McCormack, who’ll represent the party in the next General Election.
He says not allowing men to enter the race was a complete and utter farce…
Cllr Doran’s resignation from the Sinn Féin Party comes just over a year after his former party colleague Cllr Seamie Morris stepped away.
That leaves just three sitting Sinn Féin councillors in the county – Martin Browne, Catherine Carey and David Dunne.
Both Cllr Morris and Doran will contest May’s local election as independent candidates, although Cllr Morris is in talks with former Sinn Féin Deputy Peadar Tóibín to join his new political party.
Cllr Doran told Fran Curry on Tipp Today this morning that it’s too soon to make any decisions like that…
