Unionists get more support from SF than FF/FG

THE Unionist community is facing a major snub from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael after the reversal of expectations that they would use one of the Seanad by-elections to restore former Unionist Ian Marshall to the Seanad.

Traditionally, the Seanad has had one member from Ulster, but an absence of spaces after election 2020 ruled this out.

Currently, after the departure of Michael D’Arcy and the resignation of Sinn Féin’s Elisha McCallion over her receipt of €10,000 in coronavirus relief grants under the Small Business Grant scheme in Northern Ireland, for which she was ineligible, there are two Seanad vacancies.

However, in the wake of the Fine Gael decision to run the former senator Maria Byrne for the D’Arcy seat, pressure is now growing within Fianna Fáil to challenge for a seat in the McCallion by-election.

The selection by Fine Gael will be seen as representing a snub to the former senator who had been tipped to replace Mr D’Arcy as the token Unionist representative.

A number of other putative candidates such as former FG Dublin TD Noel Rock and Pat Deering, the Carlow-based former FG Chair of the Agriculture committee and the former Mayo TD Michelle Mulherin will be less than happy also.

The decision by Fine Gael not to run Mr Marshall, who is being supported by Sinn Féin and the Greens, has created a political difficulty for Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

A Fianna Fáil source warned: ‘If Fine Gael are running a candidate, then we have to run one for the second vacancy. We cannot just be standing around with our hands in our pockets.’

Favourites among the ‘rebel’ wing for any run include the FF Dublin Councillor Kate Feeney and the former Cork East TD Kevin O’Keeffe.

One veteran observer noted: ‘The Cowen wing would be keen on

Kate. There is a dynastic connection there and she is perfectly positioned to run in Dublin Rathdown.’

Mr Marshall may still have a route into the Seanad via a nomination by Sinn Féin, the Greens, and Independents.

One source warned that it would require a serious level of defections. We are, they added, ‘in a strange place where Sinn Féin are seen to be ahead of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in reaching out to the Unionist community’.