Donegal Deputy and Sinn Féin Spokesperson for Finance Pearse Doherty has said that Catherine Connolly has shown time and again that she understands the reality of regional imbalance and the need to build a fairer Ireland for communities too often left behind.

 Teachta Doherty said: “Catherine Connolly has spent her political life standing up for the West of Ireland and for people and communities who have been failed by successive governments in Dublin.

“She knows what it means when services are stripped away, when investment bypasses our towns, and when families are left to pick up the pieces — as we’ve seen here in Donegal with the defective blocks scandal and other crises to hit our county.

“Catherine Connolly has been to Donegal many many times — and she has recently met directly with homeowners affected by the defective blocks crisis.

“She took the time to sit down with campaigners and local families, to hear firsthand about the stress and hardship they’re facing. She left them with the unmistakable belief that she was someone who genuinely cares.

“She understands that regional imbalance isn’t just about geography — it’s about fairness, about ensuring that families in Donegal have the same right to services, housing and opportunity as those in Dublin.

“Coming from Galway, she has lived that reality and has never been afraid to speak truth to power.

“If Catherine Connolly is elected President, I have no doubt she will acknowledge and champion the need to urgently address regional imbalance — because I know she believes in equality, fairness and inclusion.

“She will be a President who understands, who listens, and who acts — a President for all of Ireland, not just some parts of it.”