FF leader moves to thwart MEP bid by Billy Kelleher
Martin snub to loyalist, and does Leo want Lucinda to stand?
EUROPEAN election tensions are rising already as the Fianna Fáil establishment backs a Cork candidate favoured by Micheál Martin to stand in Munster, to the dismay of former minister Billy Kelleher.
Mr Kelleher went public with his intentions, believing his 14,000 first preference votes in the last general election prove he can win a seat.
However, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned that Mr Martin told a Fianna Fáil National Executive meeting on Thursday night that he expects conventions to hold to the best interests of the party.
‘This was an unsubtle hint that conventions should not select TDs,’ said a party member present, ‘and the word of the leader holds serious weight still in our party.’
Mr Martin has enthused about Cork councillor, Séamus McGrath, brother of powerful finance spokesman Michael McGrath, a constituency colleague of Mr Martin.
Both hopefuls bumped into each other at Niall Collins’s selection convention in Limerick last week and when Mr McGrath gave his speech seeking support, attendees said Mr Kelleher was ‘jumpy’.
But Barry Cowen and John McGuinness also seem interested in getting on the Munster ticket, either of whom would deprive Mr Martin of a Dáil seat if elected.
However, Mr Cowen has not declared his intention and it would be a huge wrench for him to leave the Offaly seat the Cowen family has held since 1977.
Supporters of Mr Kelleher, TD for Cork North Central, say he has been loyal since Albert Reynolds nominated him to the Seanad in 1993 and he ‘stood firm after the 2011 catastrophe when many others walked away.’
In Dublin, Barry Andrews and Tiernan Brady, along with former ministers Mary Hanafin and Conor Lenihan, are expected to run at next month’s convention. Mr Lenihan and Mr Brady have been enthusiastically received by members but Mr Andrews has a head start as he was considering a run since last summer. But there were claims he was given access to the soughtafter party membership list.
And LGBT activist Mr Brady claimed that whispering about his friendship with Leo Varadkar were unfortunate. ‘We don’t want our country to be that place,’ he said.
Meanwhile in Fine Gael, attendees at Mr Varadkar’s 40th birthday bash last Saturday have told the MoS that the Taoiseach is believed to have floated the idea of Lucinda Creighton running for Fine Gael in Dublin. He was seen deep in conversation with his old friend, the former minister who left the party and eventually formed Renua.
It is also believed that former minister Frances Fitzgerald may also seek a nomination in Dublin as compensation for not being restored to Cabinet.
The party leadership is concerned about two sitting TDs who are considering running. If either is elected it would cause huge problems in the Dáil.
The MoS revealed last year that John Deasy wants to run in Munster. However, efforts are underway to dissuade the Waterford TD from putting his name forward for nomination. Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connoris also believed to be interested in running. One senior figure warned: ‘Europe is seen as the escape hatch for those who do not have a Cabinet future. In that regard, Ms Mitchell O’Connor is already semi-detached. She knows she is not the Taoiseach’s pick.’
Ex-minister was ‘jumpy’ when councillor spoke up