JUDE Collins’s column, ‘Connolly dividing instead of uniting the Left’ (Andytown News, September 4, 2025), demands a response, if only to correct its wholesale invention of facts.
Mr Collins constructs an elaborate conspiracy in which Catherine Connolly’s candidacy is a Labour Party plot designed to “splinter the left”. It is a compelling narrative, let down only by reality.
Deputy Connolly announced her interest on July 11 and secured her necessary Oireachtas nominations from the Social Democrats, People Before Profit, and independents on July 16. The Labour Party came on board a full two weeks later, on July 31. To mistake a late arrival for the master plan requires either a spectacular failure of basic research or a wilful disregard for a timeline that dismantles the entire thesis.
His glowing reference to Mairead McGuinness was equally unmoored. To suggest the Fine Gael MEP is universally “loved” for her anti-Brexit stance is to ignore her actual political record. The “lovable” McGuinness, a loyal member of the European People’s Party, has publicly campaigned for the abandonment of Irish neutrality and for Ireland to join an EU army. Even more damningly, in 2019 she voted against an EU resolution to resume life-saving search and rescue missions for refugees in the Mediterranean. A curious record for a purported “home-and-hosed” winner beloved by all.
After presenting this false chronology and skewed praise, Mr. Collins concludes with a plea: “Gimme a break.” We could all do with a break from his wanton inaccuracy.
The establishment media, and commentators like Mr Collins, are keen to ignore the substance of Deputy Connolly’s campaign – her stand for active neutrality, compassionate diplomacy, and questioning economic injustice. It is far easier to invent a conspiracy than to engage with a platform that champions peace, the Irish language, and the most vulnerable.
One wonders if the Andersonstown News might give Mr Collins that break he so desperately needs. After such a fact-free, anti-Connolly rant, who knows? The establishment media might just have a job for him.
Le meas,
Niall Farrell,
Galway
