Sinn Féin Rep Lets Rip On Harris Vote

Mic drop…

atest press release from Wicklow Sinn Féin Press Office, issued on Thursday, October 16th 2025…

Bray Sinn Féin representative Denise Cahill has launched a scathing attack on the so-called Independent Ireland political party for voting confidence in Simon Harris yesterday and has called on Bray Independent Ireland Councillor Ian Neary to explain why his party has so much confidence in Harris, describing their decision as “a total betrayal of the people who believed they were voting for real independence and real change.”

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

Denise Cahill said it is “extraordinary” that any party claiming to represent ordinary people could back a leader whose record is defined by failure. She pointed out that Simon Harris broke promises to families of children with scoliosis, leaving children waiting in agony despite repeated assurances that delays would end. “If Independent Ireland really cared about accountability, this alone would have stopped them supporting him,” she said.

She also condemned his central role in the National Children’s Hospital debacle. “Simon Harris signed off on the contract in 2017. Because of the weaknesses in that contract, the hospital is now over €1.5 billion more expensive than originally estimated and more than three years behind schedule. This is one of the worst examples of waste and mismanagement in the history of the State—and he was responsible.”

Denise said his failures extend to housing and homelessness, where ordinary families in Wicklow and Bray continue to struggle while this Government has failed to deliver affordable homes or protect vulnerable people.

Cllr Ian Neary

“Simon Harris has failed our community over and over again,” she said.

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

Denise Cahill again called on Cllr. Ian Neary to publicly justify his party’s stance. “Cllr. Ian Neary 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.”