‘It’s a bushfire now’ — further heave on Bailey by local FG
A SECOND heave against swing fall compensation case TD Maria Bailey has begun in Fine Gael — this time in her own political backyard.
A motion of no confidence was placed in Ms Bailey in her Dun Laoghaire constituency last week. Now a motion demanding Fine Gael review the party ticket has been tabled by party activists in Bailey’s heartland of Killiney.
She was previously a councillor for that area, so it is her political base. The party grassroots members also want an emergency special meeting to discuss the party ticket.
Ms Bailey remains a candidate for Fine Gael in the forthcoming general election. But some senior figures don’t want her on the ticket as they believe the compensation case controversy will damage the party in the elections.
Last week’s motion of no confidence was not voted upon. But a second motion has now been sent to the party at constituency and national level. The new motion asks the constituency organisation to request the national executive to review and change the party ticket. “It’s a bushfire now. It’s all out in the open and won’t go away,” a party source said.
Ms Bailey is not specifically named but it is understood the veteran party members who signed it have her in mind. The wording refers to changing the ticket to boost the party’s electoral prospects.
The motion was proposed by Joe Lawlor, an experienced party activist who has served as a local director of elections for Fine Gael. The motion last week was tabled by Fine Gael councillor Marie Baker.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said this weekend that he had confidence in Maria Bailey but he was lukewarm about canvassing with her.
As revealed in the Irish Independent, Maria Bailey took a personal injury claim against the Dean Hotel after falling off a swing. An internal Fine Gael report into Ms Bailey’s claim against the hotel on Harcourt Street found her affidavit ”overstated the impact of her injuries”.
On foot of the report, the Taoiseach removed her as chairperson of the Oireachtas Housing Committee, worth €9,500 a year. She subsequently resigned from an Oireachtas committee dealing with ethics. The controversy over her compensation claim is believed to have damaged the party in the local and European elections.