Sitting TD does not see a collapse of the Sinn Féin vote at the doorsteps

Sitting TD Martin Browne believes that his grounding in community activism will stand to him in the battle he has to retain his Dáil seat.

Swept in on the last occasion by a massive nationwide surge for Sinn Féin, Tipperary South candidate Martin Browne accepts on this occasion that his hopes lie with the third seat. To give him a chance of holding on to his seat Browne believes he has to stay ahead of Seamus Healy and come out on top in the bid to be the biggest poll getter from the left of the political spectrum.

“I am a doer not a sayer,” is the message that Michael Browne said he is hearing at the door.
Deputy Browne said that people see the person and they respond to that. He believes the standing of the party, while not at the same it was when the 2020 General Election took place, is on the rise again.

“I have always done the work in the community and I think that will stand to be again on this occasion,” he said. He started out with the party in 1980. People like his own brother Mikey, Marcus Fogarty and Timmy Henchey inspired him at the time.
“It was the era of the H-Blocks and that had a huge influence on me. I remember the days of Section 31 and we were spat at at the doors. The media were treating us like we were devils with horns on our heads. I think the general public see the person that you are in the community thankfully and they see a different side of you because you are involved in supporting people in the community,” said Martin Browne.

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COMMUNITY
From the outset of political life, Martin said he set about representing the community through involvement in residential associations, on school boards of management, in GAA clubs, and darts clubs.

“I was on the committee that was responsible for the establishment of Spafield Resource Centre and between the GAA and the darts, I would have been all over the county,” he said.
He was co-opted on to Cashel District Council in 2012,stood himself in 2014 and was elected to the Tipperary County Council.

He lost his seat in 2019 after persuading the party that they should put forward two candidates and he lost out to Tony Black who he had brought on to the ticket.

He bounced back from that setback to run as a successful candidate for the Dáil the following year taking a seat in dramatic style on an emotional day for the Browne family in the count centre in Thurles. Martin Browne received an incredible 10,004 first-preference votes in that General Election. He knows that is not going to happen again.
“There was a huge surge in votes for the party at the time. Three months ago we were at 16% in the polls, we are now at between 18% and 20% and rising. We are not going to be at the levels we were at in 2020 but there is a lot of talk about the Sinn Fein vote collapsing but I am not getting that at the doors,” said Deputy Browne.

He wants to continue fighting for services for people and is determined to succeed in this campaign.
He is horrified by the delays in providing the promised nursing unit for Cashel despite significant expenditure of €184,000 on design. There was still no clarity on the site or any sign of anything happening,he said. The Sinn Féin man is also determined to continue to expose the disgraceful manner in which St Bridget’s Hospital in Carrick-on-Suir was closed.

“We have a very hard-working councillor in David Dunne in the town. It should never have been closed and we will keep working to get that decision reversed.” he said.

CHANGE
Martin Browne believes if people want change then Sinn Féin is the only answer.
“People are looking at Independents but they are not going to change Government. We are the only party with the numbers that can make a difference at national level and we are getting a very positive response at the doors,” he said.