McCarthy confirms he is in talks with FG

FERMOY based county councillor Noel McCarthy has confirmed he is in talks with Fine Gael about joining them and running as a candidate for the party in the next general election.

Intense speculation over Cllr McCarthy’s political future has reached fever pitch after his surprise resignation from the Labour party in early October.

Following his defection from Labour it had been widely assumed Cllr McCarthy would seek to become the first ever Independent elected to Dáil Eireann from the Cork East constituency.

However, talk of him joining sitting TDs David Stanton and Tom Barry on the Fine Gael ticket in Cork East has intensified over recent weeks, despite Cllr McCarthy’s seeming reluctance to discuss the issue.

This week he confirmed to The Corkman that he has been in negotiations with senior figures within the Fine Gael party about joining their ranks.

“I have been consulting with Fine Gael but no agreement has reached,” said Cllr McCarthy.

“I would envisage that I will be making an announcement one way or the other by the end of next week,” he added.

A hugely popular figure in Fermoy and the surrounding area, Cllr McCarthy also has strong links in Cobh.

He was first elected to both Cork County Council and Fermoy Town Council in 1999, subsequently serving a term as mayor of Fermoy.

At the last local elections in 2014 he bucked the anti-Labour trend, topping the poll in the Fermoy electoral area, receiving one of the highest tally of first preferences votes of any candidate in the country.

His 3,511 votes was way ahead of his nearest rival, Fianna Fail’s Kevin O’Keeffe who has already been selected by the Soldiers of Destiny to run in the Cork East constituency.

Were Fine Gael to recruit Cllr McCarthy it would be seen as a major coup for the party in terms of securing votes.

However, many would doubt the party is capable of winning three seats in Cork East.