It’s a full ticket out West as FF add two
FIANNA FÁIL has added senators Lisa Chambers and Niall Blaney to the ticket to stand in the European parliamentary election. They will join Barry Cowen, the Offaly-based TD, on the Midlands-North-West ticket. Mr Cowen beat both Mr Blaney and Ms Chambers in a selection convention last month. Fianna Fáil will now have three candidates in the constituency, with Mr Blaney based in Donegal and Ms Chambers from Mayo. Ms Chambers will be in direct competition with Fine Gael’s Maria Walsh, also based in Mayo. One Fianna Fáil TD said the move was a smart one, explaining: ‘Blaney is the only northwest candidate and Chambers will thwart Walsh’s vote.’ However, another source said the party should just have selected all three together instead of having what was a bruising selection convention.
Earlier this month, Mr Blaney told the Donegal News after the convention: ‘If you talk to any of the party members or backbenchers, they are all of the view that they are sick of seeing Lisa Chambers hogging the media limelight even though it did not do much for her when it came to Monday’s votes.’
Ms Chambers had complained in the aftermath of the convention that delegates were being told by Mr Cowen and Mr Blaney that she would be added to the ticket anyway and they did not have to vote for her.
The latest move was confirmed yesterday by the party’s director of elections, Housing
Minister Darragh O’Brien. He said: ‘This is a very strong, ambitious ticket and represents the best of what Fianna Fáil offers, in the form of three highly committed, hard-working and able public representatives who are determined to fight for Ireland in Europe.’
Ms Chambers came in last at the selection convention with 507 votes. Mr Blaney got 803, while Mr Cowen topped the poll with 894. After Ms Chambers’s votes were redistributed, Mr Cowen won the nomination with 1,142 votes, to Mr Blaney’s 1,071.
While Mr Blaney is a relative unknown outside of his party, his addition to the ticket is a reflection of his strong performance at the convention.
‘Sure, he’s been at this since October 2022, and had really sharpened up his act,’ commented one source.