*Gary Fitzgibbon with Violet-Anne Wynne. Photograph: Peter Flannigan
YOUTH AND having experienced difficulties prompted people to vote for Violet-Anne Wynne and not the Sinn Féin brand, she has argued.
In 2019, Wynne then running as a Sinn Féin candidate polled 385 first preference votes in the Kilrush LEA for the local elections, she was the second candidate eliminated, ironically her current parliamentary assistant Mike Taylor who was a Fine Gael candidate was also eliminated on the fifth count.
Yet, less than a year later, Violet-Anne topped the poll in the county for the 2020 General Election, amassing 8,987 first preference votes seeing her local election return multiply by twenty three times.
What changed in the space of nine months is the question put to the Offaly native. “There was definitely more I suppose of a turnout for the general election votes than there would have been for the local elections, so that will be one factor. But then I suppose the other factor was that I suppose a lot of people were activated as in the sense that they wanted change, that’s what I was hearing on the doors. I think I was received very well because I was so young and relatable, I think as well, because I wouldn’t be somebody who people will be used to going forward for elections and maybe.
“I suppose maybe even the difficulties that I faced, makes people feel very comfortable, I know that that was the case when I was at the doors, anything that people definitely opened up to me, either about their, their children’s difficulties that they’re having, for example, with housing, or, you know, somebody that they knew everybody kind of seemed to have some person that they could anchor to, to be able to say, well, they went through the same experience or they went through something similar or, you know, for that kind of a conversation, it was great, actually, even though it was only a three week campaign, it was riveting. I have to say, you know, meeting people and hearing their stories and exactly what I was looking for anyway”.
Political pundits would argue that it was a Sinn Féin vote rather than a vote for Violet-Anne Wynne, the fact that she hadn’t ever been to some places in the county or had heard of them like Kilkishen yet she received high votes would strengthen this theory. “I just remember the experience of being in the count and I remember that morning that you know, while it was coming through that other candidates have been successful in lots of different constituencies and this idea or concept of a green wave happening or yeah, they had said it would not translate to Clare and so there was a very much a guarantee that even though there may be I suppose a theme or a wave as they described it happening, it wasn’t going to be experienced in Clare, so that was that was interesting, I suppose that an awful lot didn’t expect it even those in the political sphere themselves weren’t expecting this to translate to Clare as to why you know, older than me being young and somebody who had experienced difficulties as well. I can’t really say”.
Five Sinn Féin candidates who were “definitely more rooted in their particular constituency,” lost out in the 2020 election, she noted.
On why she was not successful in the 2019 local elections, she said, “I suppose I didn’t get to do an awful lot of canvassing which could possibly be something because yeah, leaflets been delayed and all of that kind of stuff. But no idea to be honest”.
