Mary Lou McDonald has triumphantly welcomed her new team of 37 TDs to Leinster House.
The Sinn Fein leader has hosted the new and returning politicians at the party’s first parliamentary party meeting of the new Dail term this morning.
Ms McDonald’s party had a stunning success in the recent general election, almost doubling their representation in the Dail from 22 to 37 seats since the last election.
And in doing that the party has leap-frogged Fine Gael and relegated them to the third number of seats with 35.
Fianna Fáil leads the way on 38, but the wind is in the sails of Sinn Fein as Fianna Fail also lost more than half a dozen seats this time around.
Ms McDonald said to her TDs: “Sinn Fein won the election.
“There are many of you here today - as part of a new team for a new Dail term - is testament to that fact.
“Our platform is now the people’s manifesto.
“And it is the basis for a Programme for Government.
“A programme of change for a government of change.
“People are looking for us to deliver.
“They are looking for us to lead.
“What the election campaign demonstrated is that people trust Sinn Fein to stand up for them.”
