Hogan to contest by-election for Sinn Féin

Athlone’s Paul Hogan has been officially confirmed as the sole Sinn Féin candidate in the upcoming by-election.

The party membership of Longford and Westmeath overwhelmingly endorsed the candidature of Cllr Paul Hogan last night to contest the by-election in the Longford/Westmeath constituency, arising from the sad passing of Deputy Nicky McFadden.

Every member of the party was invited to either declare a personal interest in running or nominate someone to contest. Councillor Paul Hogan was the only person nominated and has the overwhelming support of the membership right across the two counties of Longford and Westmeath. Sinn Féin will be running just one candidate in the Longford/Westmeath by-election, expected to happy on the same day as the local elections on May 23.

The other declared candidates at this stage are Mayor Gabrielle McFadden, Fianna Fáil’s Aengus O’ Rourke, along with Independents Donal Jackson and John McNamara.

Paul Hogan has been an elected representative for the last ten years, having been first elected in 2004 at the age of 21. He has previously served as the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Athlone.

Mr Hogan is the most experienced elected representative of all the candidates selected thus far, and is also the youngest candidate in the field to date. In the last General Election, Paul received nearly 6,500 votes (4,339 first preferences) and was the last to be eliminated.

A party statement said: “He is particularly aware of the issues that are affecting people in Longford and Westmeath. The austerity policy is simply not working and many people are feeling the sharp financial pinch caused by unfair and unjust austerity measures. This needs to stop now and Longford/Westmeath needs a strong voice to stand up for the people of this constituency. Paul Hogan is that strong experienced voice”.