Labour open up Dáil race

THE Labour party’s inability to field a candidate in Kerry has astonished many seasoned political observers across the country.

After years of decline in the county – due in no small part to relentless pressure from Sinn Féin – Labour have found themselves without a Kerry candidate for the first time in 87 years.

It marks a humiliating low for a party which, in its heyday at the height of the Spring era, once held two of county Kerry’s six seats in Leinster House.

While Tralee Councillor Terry O’Brien had already ruled himself out of the race – citing health reasons and the huge commitment required to adequately represent constituents in the Dáil – there was still a hope that Labour would be able to find a candidate by last Wednesday’s noon deadline.

Killarney Labour Cllr Marie Moloney and the party’s high-profile but ultimately unsuccessful Tralee area local election candidate Ben Slimm also ruled themselves out and, in the end, no last-minute alternatives could be found.

Kerry Labour says its focus now is on rebuilding the party machine locally and that running a candidate for “the sake of it” would have achieved nothing and been unfair to voters.

Whether the party can rejuvenate itself in Kerry in time for the next General Election – be that in months or years time – remains to be seen but, for now, the party has opened the door for its opponents.

Tralee is seen as key to the race in Kerry, with local councillors Norma Foley (FF) and Pa Daly (SF) widely expected to battle it out for the final seat.

The presence of a Tralee-based Labour candidate – such as Cllr O’Brien or Mr Slimm – could have upended the race in the county capital. However, councillors Daly and Foley now face off directly in a fight for the anti-Government vote.

Meanwhile Killarney – which has no locally based candidates – has become a something of a political no man’s land.

Cllr Moloney’s decision not to run has – like the situation in Tralee – left the tourism Mecca wide open for Labour’s rivals, a turn of events they are all too keen to capitalise on.