Former Co. Tipperary councillor resigns from Sinn Fein 

Former Clonmel councillor Catherine Carey has announced her resignation from Sinn Fein. 

Ms Carey informed The Nationalist of her decision yesterday (Tuesday) but declined to give a reason for her departure from the party. Her decision came just days after withdrawing from Sinn Féin's general election candidate selection contest.  

Ms Carey was first elected as a Sinn Fein councillor for  Clonmel Borough District to in 2014 and served as Mayor of Clonmel in 2017/2018. She lost her seat in the local election in May.  

She contested Sinn Fein's first Tipperary general election candidate selection convention in April last year but lost out to Thurles based Ciara McCormack.  The convention was criticised for excluding male candidates. 

Ms Carey said it was a difficult decision for her to resign from Sinn Fein and she reached it after consulting with family and friends. She didn't rule out running as a candidate in a future election. 

Her resignation is the latest in a string of defections from  Sinn Fein in Co. Tipperary.  Nenagh Cllr Seamus Morris, who was the party's 2016 general election candidate, resigned  in 2017 following a bitter dispute with other party members  in the constituency. He is now an Independent councillor. 

Former Thurles councillor David Doran resigned in January citing growing policy differences with the party. He was also unhappy at the party's decision to restrict its first general election candidate selection convention to women only nominees. He lost his council seat in the local election in May.

Read about: Former Clonmel mayor resigns from Sinn Fein