the departure of the latest Dublin City Council member

SINN FÉIN’S operations in the Republic have suffered another blow with the departure of the latest Dublin City Council member from the party’s ranks.
So far, it is not known which party Cllr Louise Minihan will join on the city council, or whether she will sit as an Independent. She had been co-opted in 2002 to fill the Ballyfermot/Drimnagh seat vacated by Tony Smithers.
However, Ms Minihan does have ties with others who quit Sinn Féin in recent months and years to form Éirígí, arguing that Sinn Féin has abandoned its socialist republican roots.
Last night, Dublin South Central TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh sharply criticised Cllr Minihan, pointing out that she had been happy under the party’s flag in the June local elections.
“She had an opportunity to run as an Independent but chose not to do so. She should now return the seat to Sinn Féin so that we can continue to represent the people of Ballyfermot, Chapelizod, Drimnagh and Inchicore as we were elected to do,” he said.
The haemorrhage of Sinn Féin councillors is a serious worry for many members of the party. Cllr Killian Forde is now the only Sinn Féin councillor in Dublin elected in 2004 to still represent the party.
Early this month, Dublin councillor Christy Burke left, saying he had resigned in protest at what he described as a lack of support from the party during his Dublin Central byelection campaign. However, relations between Mr Burke, the Cabra-based, 25-year council veteran, and the party have been cool for some time, party sources told The Irish Times .
Confirming that she will remain on the city council, Ms Minihan said she “no longer” believed that Sinn Féin remained committed to its stated objective “of ending British rule in Ireland and the establishment of an Irish democratic socialist republic”.
Rejecting Sinn Féin’s demands to return the council seat, she said: “It would be hypocritical of me to hand over my seat to a party I no longer support or believe in.
“I know from speaking to people in my constituency that many of them voted for me on the basis of the politics I promote and my track record of community activism.”

Irish Times

A report into clerical child abuse in Dublin

A report into clerical child abuse in Dublin released later today will "shock and horrify" the whole of Ireland, a leading figure in the Catholic church has admitted.
The Dublin Diocese Commission will name up to 15 priests they say were guilty of abusing children in the Irish capital over a 35-year-period.
Up to 450 victims have also been identified by the commission which will present the report to the Irish justice minister Dermot Ahern.
The Irish government now has to decide whether it should publicly name the clergy identified in the report.
"The report will shock and horrify Ireland," according to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who played a key role in setting up the investigation and is seen by the Vatican as someone determined to reform the image of the Catholic church in Ireland.
It will name 15 priests, 11 of whom have been convicted through the Irish courts and four who are already well known.
The report was established in March 2006 and examined child sex abuse allegations against 46 priests and how each case was handled by 19 Dublin bishops between 1975 and 2004.
Part of the report will heavily criticise a so-called power culture among the Dublin bishops who have been accused of not taking the allegations seriously.
Ahern is understood to be preparing to hand over the report to the Republic's attorney general for legal advice.
The report deals with three men currently facing court cases and in two instances these men have served sentences in connection with child abuse, while a third has pleaded guilty to the latest charges against him. The men are not likely to go on trial until April next year.
In order to avoid prejudicing the cases the attorney general Paul Gallagher may publish the report but give the three men in question pseudonyms.
Of the 19 bishops investigated in the report, seven are deceased.
The Guarian.co.uk