Sinn Féin’s Denise Cahill Rounds On Independent Ireland For Backing Simon Harris

Sinn Féin Bray member questions Independent Ireland's backing for Simon Harris describing their decision as “betrayal of the people who believed they were voting for real independence and real change.”

Bray Sinn Féin representative Denise Cahill has strongly criticised Independent Ireland for voting confidence in Tanaiste  Simon Harris, calling the move “a total betrayal of the people who believed they were voting for real independence and real change.”

Cahill has also challenged the Fassaroe Councillor Ian Neary of Independent Ireland to explain why his party “has so much confidence in Harris.”

“They fooled people into voting for them,” she said. “People genuinely believed they were bringing something different to politics. And yet here we have them lining up to support Simon Harris—a man who has brought so much pain on ordinary people.”

Cahill said it was “extraordinary” that any party claiming to represent ordinary people could back a leader whose record “is defined by failure.”

She highlighted several key failures:

• **Broken promises to families of children with scoliosis, with children in pain despite repeated assurances.
• **The National Children’s Hospital scandal**, where Minister Harris signed off on a 2017 contract that has led to the hospital being over €1.5 billion above budget and years behind schedule.
• **Housing and homelessness** with families in Wicklow are struggling to due to a lack of affordable homes and government inaction.

“Simon Harris has failed our community over and over again,” Ms. Cahill said. She also accused Independent Ireland of abandoning its principles:

 “For Independent Ireland to look at all of this and say they have confidence in him is unbelievable. They are not independent at all—they are propping up the very system they claimed to oppose.”

Ms. Cahill again called on Councillor Ian Neary to publicly justify his party’s vote:

“He needs to tell the people of Bray and Wicklow why he and his party have so much confidence in someone who has failed us time and time again. The public deserves answers.”

She concluded:

 “Voting confidence in Simon Harris means supporting more broken promises, more waste, and more suffering for ordinary people. Sinn Féin will continue to stand up for our communities and demand real change.”