Sinn Féin turns to south Armagh Republican to sort out Laois troubles after Brian Stanley resigns

Sinn Féin has reportedly drafted in a high-ranking member from the Republican heartland of south Armagh to sort out its Laois electoral troubles.

However, Laois party members are still in limbo as no list of potential candidates has yet been compiled locally to replace Brian Stanley on the ballot paper.

The Belfast Telegraph reported that former IRA member Sean Hughes is understood to have attended a meeting organised by senior party management in Laois last week last Wednesday.

He was also reported to have been drafted into sort out Sinn Féin dispute in Wickow in 20016. David Cullinane, Waterford TD, said in 2017 that the party tried for 18 months to resolve the problem but expelled three members in 2017.

Laois Sinn Féin members have declined to comment on the apparent assignment of Mr Hughes to the constituency where Dep Stanley was a favourite to retain the seat prior to the controversy.

The members met in the week after Dep Stanley stepped away. They indicated that they would stand by the party and that a candidate would run in the General Election.

 However, when contacted late last week the Leinster Express / Laois Live was told that there was no list of candidates in place nor was a candidate chosen.

Laois Sinn Féin Secretary Aaron Kelly could only say there was "no update". MORE BELOW PICTURES.

Pictured: Brian Stanley with former Sinn Féin colleagues as they prepared for the local elections in Laois.

The absence of a list was at odds with a report in the Irish Independent on Saturday, October 26 in which a party source is claimed as saying candidates have expressed an interest.

“We were pleasantly surprised with the calibre of anybody who has made an expression of interest and would be a very viable candidate to win the seat,” said a source.

It's reported that a  Convention is due to take place this week.

The party's only public representative in Laois Cllr Caroline Dwane-Stanley says she will not run. The Portlaoise councillor was recently reappointed to an EU Committee of local politicians from across Europe.

Cllr Aidan Mullins left SF in August. The Portarlington Graiguecullen representative quit after being suspended by the party for comments he made on X, formerly Twitter.

Dep Stanley's election intentions are still not clear. He has been a TD since 2011 an topped the poll for Sinn Féin in Laois Offaly in 2020.

Sinn Féin has said it intends to run a candidate in the new Laois constituency in the 2024 election. It has made no comment on the process that will achieve the ambition which has been badly damaged by the Brian Stanley controversy.