Daniel McConnell: Bright future for 'Shinner in Fine Gael clothes'

The plinth is a space at the front of the main building which is used for such media briefings, sometimes at very short notice.

Sometimes Sinn Féin will have something to flog.

A new policy paper, a survey or whatever.

Other times, it is merely an opportunity to speak on the issues of the day, a response to the latest failure by a minister to do something properly.

It works for them as an opposition party as it grants them exposure to the national media, and thereby the general public with the hope of inclusion on the main evening news on TV.

For the media, it grants access to senior politicians and allows us ask questions not necessarily related to the issue of the day and often these exchanges can get testy and challenging, as they should.

Now all opposition parties and groupings will use the plinth for press conferences, but it is fair to say none with the regularity or consistency of Sinn Féin.

But in my time in Leinster House, as night follows day — at times of awkwardness and difficulty for the party — such invitations stop.

They simply don’t appear.

We are currently in a period of such inactivity from Sinn Féin

One has not received an invitation to a Sinn Féin doorstep on the plinth for quite some time.

The last invitation sent to journalists in the WhatsApp group to a gathering was from the party’s health spokesman David Cullinane on September 29 to discuss his reaction to the health measures in the Budget.

Mary Lou McDonald’s doorstep at the party’s think-in in Dublin was her first such outing in almost a year, records would suggest.

It may be the current period of reluctance to engage with the media has something to do with the new biography on McDonald by former Independent Minister Shane Ross.

Ross’ book is not a hatchet job but he does delve into some sensitive subject matter in McDonald’s family.

Perhaps the party simply has gone dark to limit as much as possible the noise and oxygen around the book’s launch.

It could be argued that that is simply effective media management during a time of potential crisis or discomfort.

However, such a prolonged disengagement is unusual and perhaps points to a shift in mindset

That perhaps this is a party on course to be in government. That has a profile by default by being the lead party of opposition and no longer needs to “feed the beast” as much.

What has also been noticeable in recent weeks is the choice of TD by the party to replace Mary Lou McDonald and Pearse Doherty at Leaders’ Questions.

The choice of Sorca Clarke, a first-time TD, to go up against Micheál Martin back in July and again last week has been noted. Matt Carthy and not Doherty or Eoin O Broin or Louise O’Reilly stood in for a sick McDonald on Tuesday.

First-time TD Clare Kirrane went up against Michael McGrath on Wednesday.

An emerging star

But another interesting development this week was the selection of another first-time TD, Mayo’s Rose Conway Walsh, to take Leaders’ Questions against Tánaiste Leo Varadkar on Thursday.

Currently, the party’s higher education spokesperson, Conway Walsh is emerging as a real star in McDonald’s arsenal as an economic heavyweight to rival Doherty’s fiscal supremacy.

She is currently undertaking an economics master’s degree at Trinity College Dublin, where her sons attend, to supplement her existing economic-focused qualifications.

She also holds a BA in Public Management and a Masters in Local Government.

In recent weeks, it is understood the two have had disagreements as to whether Ireland will enter into recession in the coming months.

Doherty on one hand believes the buoyancy of the multinational sector will be sufficient to prevent Ireland from plunging into negative growth.

Conway Walsh takes a more pessimistic view and said the wider trend globally and the current chaos in Britain means it is only a matter of time before we hit the skids.

Such debates have played out, I am told, at meetings in recent weeks.

All friendly but that the debate is going on within Sinn Féin is noteworthy.

The more one explores Conway Walsh’s background you see there is plenty of substance there.

Sophisticated demeanour

Sometimes referred to the “Shinner in Fine Gael clothes”, Conway Walsh certainly portrays a more sophisticated and refined demeanour than some of her more hardened comrades.

But there is a steeliness to her.

Born in London, Rose’s family had moved back to Ballycroy before she started primary school. She and her seven surviving siblings — a sister died when she was a baby — were raised in a small council house and attended Shranamonragh National School.

Her former principal, Sr Breeda Leonard, remembered in a Mayo News interview in 2020 that Rose was “a very pleasant, ambitious and hard-working girl”.

“Rose always had a smile on her face and as she says herself she ‘wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth’. She had to come across a lot of obstacles, had to travel 18 miles to school every day and, being the third eldest from a large family, it wasn’t always easy,” she said.

The same feature contained this anecdote. “It might be almost 30 years since Erris native Rosaleen Lally was tasked with marking her friend Rose while playing Gaelic football for the Sam Maguires in London but she still has the bruises to prove it.”

I have learned that Conway Walsh spent over a decade working in and around the City of London, and worked in the House Of Lords bar and restaurant for a month. Her mother also had previously worked in the House of Commons.

Also as a director for the charitable organisation ‘NCH action for children’ she would bring people from the City to St James’ Palace, in relation to the Lord Mayor’s annual appeal.

This association with Westminster when Sinn Féin continues to abstain from the House of Commons has led to some ironic mutterings.

Opponents praise her for her friendly manner and willingness to be constructive rather than being a tribal opponent.

Public appeal

She is the ideal candidate to broaden the party’s appeal to suspicious middle-class voters, who still harbour doubts about Sinn Féin’s democratic credentials.

A staunch pragmatist, Conway Walsh’s relevance in the party and the wider Sinn Féin movement is on the rise.

Unlike previous generations of Sinn Féin TDs who refused to mix with opponents and the media, Conway Walsh has been to the fore in the normalisation of Sinn Féin since her arrival in Leinster House.

Marginalised under Gerry Adams, her style is far more in keeping with where McDonald wants to take the party. It was noted by my colleague, Paul Hosford, how, at a press conference, McDonald ushered Conway Walsh from the back of the gaggle of TDs to the front.

Her slip about comparing unvaccinated people affected by lockdowns to Rosa Parks and segregation in the United States in the 1960s did her no long-term damage and she showed enough political agility and deft to offer up a speedy apology.

With the government reshuffle pending, McDonald could seek to elevate her rising star to a more meaty portfolio.