FIANNA FAIL: NO THANKS PETER, OUR PARTY’S FULL
Party dismisses any notion that ‘erratic’ Casey could vie for Dáil seat as FF Donegal candidate
FIANNA Fáil has totally dismissed the possibility Peter Casey could join the party, describing him as a ‘huge ego’, ‘erratic’ and Trump-like.
The controversial runner-up in the Presidential election said at the weekend he aims to enlist with Fianna Fáil with a view to one day becoming Taoiseach.
But yesterday a senior party official dismissed the notion, saying the Dragons’ Den investor was ‘a man who could change his mind by tea time, and then again before bed’.
Despite Mr Casey polling 342,727 votes and more than 23% of first preferences, Fianna Fáil believes he is too divisive to take on board.
The businessman was ‘probably high as a kite after his success when he made those comments’, said a senior Fianna Fáil official, who pointed out: ‘This is the man who attacked Seán Gallagher during the campaign for depending on Fianna
Fáil votes, and now he wants to join us? It is a joke.’
The denouncements came from sources within the leadership camp of Micheál Martin – and it was pointed out that any application by Casey to join would have to go before a committee headed by deputy leader Dara Calleary.
Mr Casey, who made the headlines during the Presidential race for his dismissal of Traveller ethnicity and for his views on welfare recipients, declared, ‘I am joining Fianna Fáil’, according to the Sunday Independent.
He would not expand on the claims when contacted by the Irish Daily Mail yesterday, saying only: ‘That’s what’s in the paper.’
He added: ‘Sorry, honest to God, I’m not allowed to talk because of other commitments. I have 10,000 messages on my phone.’
Asked again directly about seeking to join Fianna Fáil, he replied: ‘Sure, it’s all in the future. Honest to God, I have to dash.’ He then ended the conversation. However, In comments published yesterday, Mr Casey claimed: ‘I intend to run in the next general election in Donegal. And I am going to become a Fianna Fáil TD – with a view to becoming Taoiseach at the head of a renewed and revitalised Fianna Fáil.
‘The Fianna Fáil party was always about the people of Ireland, but I believe the party has lost its way in recent years and lost this position, as the party that listens to the ordinary people of Ireland and represents their concerns.
‘I want to be the one that leads Fianna Fáil back to its natural home as the party of the people, to get it back on track and to get the party listening again to the real people, to get outside of the bubble of Dublin and Leinster House and the political and media establishment.’
A high-ranking Fianna Fáil source declared firmly, however: ‘There is no vacancy in Donegal. The party’s two TDs, Pat “the Cope” [Gallagher] and Charlie McConalogue, have already been selected for the next general election.
‘The fact is that over 70% of Fianna Fáil voters chose Michael D Higgins in the Presidential election. This man [Casey] is egotistical and naive to think we would want him in our parliamentary party. There’s no way.’
And in reference to Mr Casey’s controversial remarks about Travellers, which many political observers believe gave him a late bounce that bumped up from 1% to 23%, the senior figure said: ‘Fianna Fáil is not an anti-Traveller party.’
They added: ‘I don’t think he is serious about joining Fianna Fáil. He was probably high as a kite after his success, as he sees it, when making those comments. He poked the bear and got what he wanted. But he hasn’t even the respect to those diligently practising politics not to say that he intends to be Taoiseach.
‘It is so presumptuous and underlines how little he understands what politicians do, day in and day out. It means working cooperatively with many people.’
Across the board, the party was quick to distance itself from Mr Casey. The party’s communications spokesman Timmy Dooley retweeted an article about Mr Casey wanting to join Fianna Fáil, and added the comment: ‘Ah, we’re ok, thanks!!’
Niall Collins TD, the party’s spokesman on foreign affairs, told RTÉ’s The Week In Politics: ‘There’s bad news for Peter, in the sense that our ticket in Donegal is complete.
‘We have Charlie McConalogue and Pat “The Cope” Gallagher.
‘Peter would want to realise that you can’t just rock up to political parties and think that you can get your way.’
Recent changes mean that Mr Casey cannot join the party quietly. Any application must be reviewed by a committee of the party’s ard comhairle involving Dara Calleary TD and former Cavan-Monaghan TD Margaret Conlon.
The Irish Daily Mail was left in no doubt last night that Mr Casey’s application for membership would not be approved by the leadership, as a source high up in the party alleged that the entrepreneur’s views ‘smack of Trumpism’.
‘When you join, you have to work collaboratively with people. I don’t think Peter Casey is capable of doing that, or signing up to consensus,’ the party leadership source said.
The Dragons’ Den businessman has denied that his attitude towards Travellers is racist, saying it cannot be so because he does not recognise their separate ethnic status, and views them as Irish.
In contrast, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin warmly welcomed Traveller ethnicity on March 1 last
‘There’s no vacancy in Donegal’
year ‘on behalf of Fianna Fáil’. He said he had been delighted to meet representatives from the Traveller community ‘and congratulate them on this achievement and the realisation of their ethnic identity.’
It would particularly help the younger Traveller generation, ‘so that they can be fully part of Irish society without discrimination and exclusion,’ he said.
In his Dáil remarks last year, Mr Martin stressed the need for ‘positive momentum to addressing the damaging impact of marginalisation, exclusion and discrimination against Travellers.’
He said: ‘Travellers have been a distinct part of our history for as long as written records exist.
‘They are today just as they always have been – a very important, distinct and valuable element of the broader mosaic of Irish culture and society.’
It is understood that Mr Martin is furious at his party being linked to Mr Casey – and with Fine Gael figures suggesting on social media that it would be a natural fit.
Such interventions are irresponsible and go beyond party pointscoring in the leadership’s view. A source said: ‘Promoting Casey for a national role is feeding into people’s bigotry and prejudice. It is cynical and ratifying discrimination, which is what we need least.’
A Fianna Fáil source said: ‘This is all grandstanding by Casey.
‘We had high-profile people before, like Eamon Dunphy and Fintan O’Toole who thought they had all the answers and were going to form a political party. Then they saw what was really involved, the hard work and the patience needed. Casey has a huge ego. There are people who look down on politicians every day and are convinced they can do better, but when it comes to it they run away.’
‘Casey has a huge ego’