FF would ‘punish Ó Cuív for Áras run’
FIANNA Fáil’s Éamon Ó Cuív could be about to throw his hat in the ring for the Presidency – but sources warn he’ll be sanctioned by his party if he backs a grassroots push to get him on the ballot paper.
The grandson of former President Éamon de Valera has been put forward by Galway colleague, Councillor Ollie Crowe, to enter the Áras race.
Cllr Crowe claimed yesterday that Mr Ó Cuív gave his full backing to the campaign.
‘An outstanding candidate’ ‘There may be sanctions’
FIANNA Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív could be about to throw his hat in the ring for the Presidency.
However, there may be sanctions from the Galway political veteran’s party if he accepts a nomination – and so, he would likely have to run as an Independent.
The grandson of former President Éamon de Valera has reportedly given his backing to a letter sent to councillors nationwide calling for support for the TD to be the next president.
That Mr Ó Cuív has reportedly given the campaign his backing has come as a surprise to party members and is seen within Fianna Fáil as a slap in the face for leader Micheál Martin who confirmed last month that the party will support President Michael D Higgins’s candidacy
Galway-based Fianna Fáil councillor Ollie Crowe broke ranks in recent days as he wrote to some 270 local authority party colleagues to tell them he believes Mr Ó Cuív ‘would make an outstanding candidate’ and there is no other member ‘more qualified and capable’.
Last night Councillor Crowe said his campaign ‘absolutely’ has the backing of Mr Ó Cuív and that he has discussed it with him ‘at length’, adding that he himself is simply ‘echoing what party members believe the length and breadth of the country’.
Fianna Fáil councillors have been asked not to facilitate the nomination of any challenger to the incumbent, Mr Higgins.
However, a decision by the party not to impose a whip on its councillors has opened up the local authority route for potential candidates.
In his correspondence, which was received by Fianna Fáil councillors on Sunday evening, Mr Crowe said he ‘firmly’ believes the party ‘should put forward a candidate to the people for the first office in the land’. He said they ‘have a duty as a political party to do so in the best interests of democracy, along with a responsibility to thousands of Fianna Fáil members across the country to provide a candidate they can proudly support’.
In his rallying cry to drum up support for his Galway colleague, Mr Crowe wrote that ‘sitting on the sidelines is simply not a suitable or appropriate option, our party’s role is to run in political races, not turn away from them’.
And he claimed that ‘the lack of consultation with representatives and members of the party in making this decision was an error but it is not one we need to live with’. Mr Crowe believes Mr Ó Cuív would ‘make an outstanding candidate’ and wrote that he ‘respectfully’ requests Fianna Fáil councillors will ‘consider providing support to him and examining whether it would be possible for your council to provide a nomination for Éamon’.
Both Ollie Crowe and Éamon Ó Cuív did not respond to calls or texts from the Mail last night, but Mr Crowe told RTÉ’s Drivetime he had sent the correspondence with the TD’s approval.
Speaking on the show yesterday about the emerging grassroots campaign, Cllr Crowe said it ‘absolutely’ has the backing of Mr Ó Cuív himself. He confirmed he had ‘sought permission from him to write this letter’, and Mr Crowe believes a ‘huge majority’ of Fianna Fáil’s 270 councillors will support this move.
A Fianna Fáil spokesman told the Mail: ‘This matter was discussed at a recent meeting of the Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting. And it was agreed unanimously that the parliamentary party would not nominate a candidate and would support the candidacy of Michael D Higgins.’
However, a party source said that should Mr Ó Cuív receive the required backing of four local authorities in order to get him onto the ballot paper ‘he won’t be a Fianna Fáil candidate’.
They added: ‘If he intends to run as an Independent, he therefore wouldn’t be a Fianna Fáil candidate. There may potentially be sanctions as a result of that.’