Labour’s Marie Sherlock speaks out about beating Gerry Hutch by the smallest margin

JOE

The Labour TD said the past few days have ‘been a roller coaster’.

Labour TD Maria Sherlock has spoken out about beating Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch to the final seat in Dublin Central by the slimmest of margins.

Speaking to JOE, the newly elected TD said the past few days have ‘been a roller coaster’.

“It’s still all quite surreal because, I suppose being honest you know, this campaign, we didn’t just fight this campaign over the past three weeks, we’ve been fighting it over the past four years,” she said.

She continued: “A lot of the commentary over the past number of weeks about Dublin Central had been so much focused on what I might call the celebrity candidates, and didn’t even give us a chance which, you know, hurt because you do all this work on the ground.

“To be honest, on Saturday morning there was just this huge sense of relief that we had got a really good vote, and of course, I suppose the surprise that Gerard Hutch had got the vote that he got, and then that obviously set in trail then an incredible 48 hours.”

When asked about the manic media circus which followed Hutch’s arrival at the count centre, Sherlock stated: “There has to be respect for everybody who puts themselves forward.

“Look, it was certainly a moment, and even at one stage it was kind of interesting because they had indicated to us that he wanted to shake my hand.

“And look at the end of the day, the man got 3000 votes, of course I was going to shake his hand, there has to be a respect for the people, for those 3000 voters,” she added.

Ms Sherlock said that Gerard Hutch wished her well and talked about the people he felt were voting for him.

She responded: “I made it very clear that I will be a TD for every single person in Dublin Central, and I’m also crystal clear that there’s a huge depth of frustration in our community’s in Dublin Central about housing, families with children with additional needs, and huge concerns that they feel haven’t been addressed in many years.”

When asked if she thinks Hutch will continue to try and aid the community, she said it is ‘up to himself’.

Speaking on the closeness of the count, the Labour TD said: “Anybody who’s a student of Irish politics or democracy should certainly look at that count.”

“Our sense on Saturday morning was ‘okay we’re 500 votes behind, what kind of transfers can he get’, but the reality is he picked up transfers from right across the board in some very interesting and unexpected areas.

“Sunday morning, the gap widened to 2000 votes, people are coming up to congratulate me, and I was like ‘look I’m not taking anything for granted until I hear and see the final figures’, and look, you know, we’re just so delighted that it played out,” she told JOE.

Additionally, Ms Sherlock addressed rumours that her party is a ‘divided’ one amid coalition talks.

“I’m a bit bewildered, as in division in the Labour Party ruling out coalition, has anybody listened to what I’ve actually said?

“Throughout this campaign, we have made it crystal clear that we will not be going in just to prop up Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, we will not be going in just to make up the numbers.

“Post election we always said we would talk to the other small party’s on the centre left and the green movement of whom we share values with, and if we can form a common platform, then there’s the basis for negotiation,” she explained.

She concluded: “Now if Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, who have been courting us throughout this election, are truly serious about us wanting to be in government with them, well let’s hear it from them, what are they willing to offer us.”