Galway Bay fm newsroom - Galway Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh has this evening announced his resignation from Sinn Féin.
In a statement to FYI Galway he says this is due to inaction by the party in dealing with ongoing disciplinary issues locally and serious concerns over the future of the party in his constituency.
Speaking from Leinster House this evening he says he and a sizeable number of other dissatisfied members have sought to deal with all these issues through the appropriate channels - locally, regionally and nationally.
The Connemara based politician added that they have taken them as high as the Ard Chomhairle and the Office of the President and now have no other internal avenue to have them addressed within the party.
He adds that the party’s insistence, even today, to plough ahead with the Galway West selection convention on Sunday, which he claimed had a pre-determined outcome, before serious disciplinary issues are properly dealt with, is the last straw.
The convention was scheduled for Sunday, and the one place on the ticket was to be contested by Senator O Clochartaigh, who narrowly missed out on a seat last time round, and city councillor Mairead Farrell.
Senator O Clochartaigh has, prior to being a member of Sinn Fein, was Independent but for many years served the Labour Party.
