McDonald pitches party as the real left alternative

Party leader says the buck stops with Taoiseach over housing crisis

Sinn Féin’s Northern leader Michelle O’Neill with Rev Dr Laurence Graham, the president of the Methodist Church in Ireland

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said her party cannot be ignored by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael as she made a pitch to hard-pressed middle-class voters last night.

Speaking at the Sinn Féin ard fheis in Belfast, McDonald said the party cannot be excluded from talks to form the next government, telling political opponents “to wake up and smell the coffee”.

“We are here, we are equal. Our democratic mandate and ...