Sinn Féin Chairman visits Wicklow as Election Campaign gets Underway

The man who played a key role in bringing about the Good Friday Peace Agreement, Mitchell McLoughlin arrived in Arklow this morning to canvass the town with Wicklow's Sinn Fein candidate Mairead Keane.

McLoughlin, who is also National Chairman of Sinn Fein, mingled with party workers and

Sinn Féin's Wicklow team canvassing in Arklow

constituents in the Royal hotel before setting out on a walkabout in Arklow, a town where there is a traditional republican support.

McLoughlin and his entourage paid a visit to the Wicklowtoday.com office on 30 Main Street to look through our site. Asked about Sinn Fein's chances in the election, McLoughlin said it will be a strong election for the party and the expectation is that they will return three seats.

`This is the 28th of the 42 constituencies that I have visited and I am finding that most people I meet are disillusioned with the main political parties and feel that the Celtic Tiger did not address social inequalities in this country. They also see a lack of priorities in which there seems to be a greater emphasis on things like the Bertie Bowl than improved health services', he told us.

Mr. McLoughlin added that there are many other things in Sinn Fein's favour as well including the peace process and general political changes in the north, all of which serve to offer a strong political alternative in the 26 counties.

The party candidate in Wicklow, Mairead Keane was Sinn Fein's representative in America during negotiations that led to the peace process and she is hopeful of polling well for the party in the Wicklow consituency.