Meet the candidates: Sorca Clarke, Sinn Féin (Longford Westmeath)

Here is our Q&A with Sorca Clarke who is running as a candidate for Sinn Féin in the Longford Westmeath constituency. Sorca is the Education Spokesperson for Sinn Féin and TD since 2020.

How would Sinn Féin solve the issue of affordable housing in the area?

We launched the most comprehensive housing plan of any party, and that's been said by economist and housing professionals in the last number of weeks. Specifically in terms of affordable housing, it has to actually be affordable.

What we're saying is that in government we can deliver genuinely affordable, cost-rental, purchase homes - 50,000 of them over the course of a single government. We need a fundamental shift as to how affordable housing is delivered. What we are proposing is the state would retain ownership of the land, the owner owns the property - and in return for having that affordable house for the duration of the owners' lifetime, and their children inheriting it, we ask if it is sold on to somebody else in the future it is to someone who needs an affordable home.

Why should people have confidence in Sinn Féin to solve the housing crisis when the party has never been in power before?

The question is how can you trust the people that created this crisis to fix it, when they have had almost one hundred years, and they have failed miserably.

What other party or parties would Sinn Féin be prepared to form a coalition Government with? Our preference is for a government without Fianna Fail or Fine Gael, but our starting point is always to respect the mandate of all TDs who have returned to the Dail, unlike other parties who are very clearly saying that they don't respect how people in their communities across this country are going to vote.

What is your proudest achievement as a TD representing Longford Westmeath over the past five years?

It's the small things that you remember most. I remember working with a phenomenal lady who was fighting breast cancer, and had come up against a very serious barrier that we were able to remove for her.

On a national basis, I would say introducing my first piece of legislation, which was the River Shannon Management Agency bill, to tackle the flooding that so many people living along the Shannon suffer with year in and year out.

What one issue would be your top priority if you are elected to the Dáil?

Housing has to be our first and foremost priority, because it influences absolutely everything else that comes after. If we don't have good housing, our people won't have anywhere to live, businesses won't have anywhere to develop. That has to be key, it has to be at the forefront.

After that would be education, that our schools are resourced and properly funded - and that every child access to the school place that they need.