Clear messaging was the key to SF electoral gains - Doherty
Sinn Féin's Director of Elections, Pearse Doherty, feels the party's social media strategy was not the main driver of the party's success, in the last general election.
A new report into the use of social media by Irish political parties has highlighted that 90 per cent of posts published by Sinn Féin were "loved" by users of the Twitter and Facebook platforms.
Speaking to Newstalk radio, Pearse Doherty, Sinn Féin's Director of Elections, said their 'message of action' is what has appealed to many people about the party.
"Our focus in this campaign was, 'yes, we have a housing crisis, and we're going to solve it. This is what Sinn Féin will do.'
"'We will build the biggest number of social houses in the history of this State, and we will reduce rent increases.'
"It was very clear - we have the solutions, we have the legislation, we'd have a Housing Minister in Eoin O'Broin who's ready and willing to act on this, and we were able to articulate this through many platforms."
The party received the highest percentage of first-preference votes in the general elections in February, and gained 15 new seats in the Dáil as a result, subsequently conducting government formation talks of its own with other parties of the left, most notably People Before Profit.
