Updated: Christy Burke Resigns from Sinn Fein
Read more about: Sinn Féin, Uncategorized 
Councilor Christy Burke has resigned from the Sinn Féin party. After more than thirty years of at times frayed relations with the party’s Dublin HQ he has stepped down taking his council seat with him.
Sinn Féin are calling on him not to make the seat independent, stating that he was elected on a Sinn Féin manisfesto.
Updated 1355 with statement from Sinn Féin (see below)
Updated at 1400 with statement from Christy Burke.
Just off the phone with Christy Burke. He said he has taken “a very difficult decision” to step down and sit as an independent. When asked what pushed him over the edge he said that it was not one single incident but that the idea had been “swirling around in my head for some time… it’s not something I woke up and decided to do this morning”.
When asked why he didn’t step down from the party before the elections and stand as an independent he said he thought he would have been accused of “throwing a spanner in the works”. He pointed out that he believed he would have “more freedom on voting matters” as an independent but stated he had not discussed a voting pact on the council with any other parties.
SF STATEMENT
For immediate release 9th June 2009:Sinn Féin comment on Burke decision
Chairperson of Dublin Sinn Féin Aengus Ó Snodaigh has described the
decision of Christy Burke to resign from the party only days after being
elected on a Sinn Féin mandate “as disappointing not least because it
runs totally against the commitment which he made to the party and
electorate only weeks ago when he sought and received the endorsement of
a Sinn Féin election convention”.Deputy Ó Snodaigh said:
“Christy fought the council and by-election campaigns under the Sinn
Féin banner with the full support of the party. His decision to resign
from the party only days after being elected on a Sinn Féin mandate is
disappointing not least because it runs totally against the commitment
which he made to the party and electorate only weeks ago when he sought
and received the endorsement of a Sinn Féin election convention.“He has been a republican activist all of his life and is recognised for
his contribution. He should now honour the commitment that he made only
weeks ago and return what is a Sinn Féin seat to the party.“We are in the process of completely re-organising the party in Dublin
Central blending experience with new people. Sinn Féin has always stood
side-by-side with the people of this constituency and this will continue
into the future.“Sinn Féin is building the party right across the county and will
continue to pursue and popularise our republican objectives of a united
Ireland with equality and social justice for all.”
About to act as the O’Sullivan/Gregory organisation rep on the Council?
A pity to see O’Snodaigh lie through his teeth so blatantly. Burke ran under the SF banner only because they begged him. You may be quite certain that the SF label cost him votes.
Still the new middle class SF doesn’t need hard working honest working class activists like Christy. Right?
A carpetbagger who used the SF platform as a flag of convenience to get elected and then threw it overboard like Liam Twomey did with the Independent one when he joined FG. Twomey’s eventual fate should be a cursory lesson to Burke on the fate that befalls those who practice such hypocrisy. Helen Keogh could educate him on this.
maybe if Sinn Fein listened to people like Christy Burke rather than their Northern Ireland dictators and represented the views of their supporters and not they’re idological principles he would’nt have had to resign. It’s about time Adams and Co listened to their members and supporters instead of forcing thier policeys on them. Fair play to Christy and best of luck to him
well done christy who has given over 25 yrs loyal service to SF O Snodaigh should get a grip who is he too talk who barely scrapped in at last elections to dail keep ure seat christy and continue being a voice to those who wont be listened too
you are not a carpetbagger who used SF platform as a flag of convenience to get elected you have been elected locally for over 25 yrs and have not used sf more like they used you
o snodaigh saying in process of re organasing party in dublin central
blending experince with new people where is he going go get these new people from rathgar ? well the people gave the answer on that one time sf got to grips that is out of touch with ordinary people and they have been told this with their reduced mandate at dublin city council level
Simon – great question, I wish I had that to ask him when he was on the phone.
The whole “Christy’s morality” debate that’s being tossed about is a little odd in my opinion. Burke as been something of an outcast in the Dublin SF for a while – we all know he didn’t really want to run in the bye-election. That “flag of convenience” comment is off, it’s not like Sinn Féin were expected to romp home and the independents set to be obliterated in the pre-election opinion polls. The two sets were due to improve somewhat similar amounts. Burke has a strong enough personal vote to have been safe to win the local seat as an independent in my opinion. I’d be more on the Burke side of the argument than the SF HQ side – from what I have come to understand of the story so far.
When will the people of Ireland ever learn? The people swing from right to right thinkin that change will happen. The left fragments and shatters into a million different pieces and some people think its a victory. In the midst of all of this….Christy decides to come one of those pieces. The only option for change accross Ireland is the dynamic within Sinn Féin. Self indulgent politicians and significance seekers are meerly postponing the type of change that the people of Ireland deserve. Fair play to Christy for his 25 years of service but in the final analysis – “what are you thinking? You were elected on a Sinn Féin ticket – do the right thing Christy- retire with some dignity”
Don’t be too surprised if this ends up in court, He did make an agreement with the party.
You don’t walk away from your party after two and a half decades without something fundamental occurring to make you go. Surely this must have something to with Mary Lou losing her European seat?
Hopefully this will not signal a mass exodus from the party! Irish Republicanism needs to re-find it’s roots and decide upon a coherent strategy forward.
The people elected Christy as their representative not “the party”. That’s the nature of democracy. I know several of the leaders in the party are struggling with the concept but they have to accept it. Anyway Christy was never going to get anywhere in Sinn Fein. He doesn’t have a photogenic clevege to be strategically positioned behind Gerry Adams at a press confrence. Sinn Fein lost a number of Councillers from the last council. It seems this council is just taking up where the old one left off.
Christy Burke should not give up his seat. He has worked so hard for it for the last 25 years. He has always being there for the working class people in the inner city as far as i could see looking at the posters around the city SF was pushing all the new young members and it back fired on them and only for Christy Burke they would not have as much support in dublin city. I don’t know why Christy done what he did but there had to be a good reason for him to do it so Christy if you read this keep doing what you do best and you will only go from strenth to strenth. I am 43 years old now and have being voting for SF from the age of 18 but if christy goes from SF it will be the last time SF will get a vote from me or my family. Best of luck Christy and keep your head high
Carpetbagger! Anybody out there remember the phrase, 32 County Socialist Republic? In 1985, when Christy was first elected, this was the stated aim of Sinn Fein.He was,for a time, the only SF Councillor in the 26 and not for a border constituency,where a core Republican vote will always be garnered, but for North Side Inner City Dublin,the area of the greatest social deprivation in Ireland. His personal standing and successful fusion of socialist/republican activism and ideals made him electable during the war and through Section 31,a period of little impact for SF in Southern polls.This,in turn,paved the way for the outstanding progress of SF in Dublin,culminating in the election of Mary Lou to the Euro seat in 2003.Why has he gone? I don’t know,perhaps it is SF’s increasing disdain for the “S” word that holds the clue. It rarely appears in party rhetoric or literature these days,displaying a fear of the media and lack of respect for the electorate that Joe Higgins did not. For a party with so many activists,who would describe themselves as Socialists,this is a shame.Maybe Christy knows more than many about the direction SF is heading and decided to return to the values that first saw him elected. He could,of course, be mistaken but he is no carpetbagger and Sinn Fein has benefited from his many years of activism when the going was at its toughest.
I’m not surprised that christy has decided to call it a day with Sinn Fein. As a member for upwards of 25 years I decide to relunctantly leave a few years back, again it was no one big thing, but the careerism of some and the lack of democracy in general were key points which came constantly in different forms. Once the party was cumann based around the the local community now it is office based around paid officials. I had many good comrades who give everything including in some cases their very lives. Today if you speak out you’re labelled.
I agree with Mark, Christy had more than enough personal votes to get him elected and people voted for him because he cares about people and does the job he’s elected to do. They voted for him as he is not because he was in Sinn Fein. In my opinion the people of the inner city will never elect another Sinn Fein representative again, Not without Christy. Also this decision wasn’t taken lightly and was nothing to do with Mary Lou losing her European seat he had been thinking of it long before that. Good Luck to him, I wish him all the best as an independent TD.
So what Christy has left SF [an undemocratic party] and in leaving he may have enlisted their election machine to help retain his seat, the seat that he personaly has worked hard for and an electorate that he has worked hard for also.at the end of the day the least SF could do is congratulate Christy and wish him all the best for the future, a future that im sure will see Christy hold his seat and continue to work hard for his people ,unlike those in SF that he left behind who have lost their way totaly the war was about ridding Ireland of Britain ,not administering British rule on their behalf and building holiday homes for themselves with their ill gotten gains .
SF should take a leaf out of Christys book and get back to grass roots and while they are there ,listen to people ,the people who matter not your nodding dogs or your rentamob ceasefire provies
christy burke signed a contract with sinn fein that stated that he would stay for the 4 years if he had to run under a sinn fein banner, fair enough what ever reason he has is hes own bussines but he should hand the seat over to sinn fein and if he was thinking about leaving the party for so long why didnt he do it before the elections, i voted for him wanting to give sinn fein a vote im very dissapointed with him and he has lost my vote my familys vote and every one i can get to not vote for him.
I like Christy and admire his solid record of work over 25 years but not what he’s done. It was underhand to campaign under a Sinn Féin banner with Sinn Féin resources if he had long-standing concerns prior to the election (or did he have an epiphany the day after he was elected?).
I wouldn’t disagree that Christy could have got elected on his own merits and without Sinn Féin – so why didn’t he?
At least Christy is elected by the people to represent the people. Remember that the leader of the party in this country is the “Mouth without a Mandate” Mary Lou. What message does it send to the elected representatives within the party when a professional whinger with a track record of being unelectable gets imposed on them as their leader and therefore gets the majority of air time.
It is the UK leadership of the party giving two figures to elected public representatives in this country. Having Mary Lou imposed as national leader ahead of the party’s TDs and Cllrs makes a mockery of democracy both within and outside the party. Imagine the national outrage if we held a general election and the EU went over our heads to appoint Pat Cox as Taoiseach just because he’s one of their mates living on fleeting past glories. I’m surprised more elected members of the party haven’t given the two figures to Adams and the other UK leaders and split. Sinn Fein in the south would be better off as an independent party separate from the UK leadership as under its current structure the entire party focus is on Northern Ireland and maximising Westminister expenses.
Colm,
Please whip the spittle and bile from your chin.
Jer,
There is no spittle or bile on my chin. I’m just pointing out that there is a disconnect between the Northern focused leadership of the party and the public representatives in the Republic who are leaving because they feel neither respected nor wanted and who refuse to be led (and spoken down to) by people who have a track record of being unelectable in this juristiction (and I dare say she wouldn’t get elected in the North either).
Turn a blind eye if you want but the exodus of cllrs from the party is a symptom of a greater problem. If you choose to believe Cristy left purely for personal greedy reasons then so be it. If you choose to believe the mouth without a mandate is the best person to lead the party in this country then on your head be it. Just don’t be surprised when a new political force emerges.