A Sinn Féin councillor for East Cork, Danielle Twomey, has announced she has resigned from the party due to being in an environment that does not "respect or value" her.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) she said: "As of today I have resigned from the Sinn Féin party. I will continue my next few weeks as an independent with Cork county council.
"This year has taught me to not allow yourself to be subject to environments that don’t respect you or value you. #lifeistooshort."
As of today I have resigned from the Sinn Fein party.
I will continue my next few weeks as an independent with cork county council.
This year has taught me to not allow yourself to be subject to environments that don’t respect you or value you.#lifeistooshort— Danielle Twomey East Cork (@cllr_twomey) December 4, 2023
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Ms Twomey gave the reason behind or departure from the party.
“This has been coming for a long time”.
"Structures are implemented but not adhered to. There’s no real democracy in the party.”
She stayed in the party for so long because she felt she owed her friends and fellow members, but said party staff were not supportive of her.
"I've had relationships with people who've become friends. The people of the party are fantastic — the issue is the party staff, the people who manage things.
“What led me to leave was that members were being abusive and causing others to leave meetings in tears.
“Management were told this, and we were told that it was ‘a conflict of personalities’.”
