Former Renua election hopeful sets his sights on European seat for FF
FARMER JASON FITZGERALD HAS JOINED FIANNA FAIL AND IS EYEING UP A BID FOR A SEAT AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
A FORMER RENUA election candidate who joined Fianna Fáil last year said he got a “very warm endorsement” from the Fianna Fáil party to run for European elections.
Jason Fitzgerald told The Corkman that at the Cork North West CDC AGM, he received a strong endorsement from the FF delegates attending the meeting for his intention to run. These consisted of Deputy Aindrias Moynihan, Deputy Michael Moynihan, Cllr Bernard Moynihan, Cllr Ian Doyle, Cllr Gearoid Doyle, Cllr Gobnait Moynihan and Colm Kelleher, who is seeking the FF nomination for Cork City Council in next year’s local elections.
“I was given a very warm endorsement by the Fianna Fáil delegates. I feel if I get through the Fianna Fáil convention stage then I feel I have a good chance. I have done a lot of work in agriculture and in particular with regards to the hen harrier,” he said.
Mr Fitzgerald said that when he began knocking on Government doors with regards to the Special Areas of Conservation (SEA) and the hen harrier, he was not getting very far. However, he said when he began “knocking on the doors of Europe” that he was being listened to as chairman of the IFDL (Irish Farmers with Designated Land).
“It now means that habitats are being recognised, and even Phil Hogan (European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development) said that farmers were wrongly fined €12million,” he said. “As I said, it means habitats are being recognised by the Department of Agriculture now. I feel I can very much deliver a lot of results. With regards to the hen harrier, I felt that the Government did not deliver results, and the best place to bring about positive change is in Europe.”
He said when he started IFDL (Irish Farmes With Designated Land), it was felt that they “wouldn’t go far”, but he said they have proved so many people wrong. Mr Fitzgerald said he is also on the committee of the European Innovation Parliamentary Advisory Group, which is a national group, and he has been invited to attend their meetings in Europe.
“I feel it is in Europe where the changes are best made and where voices can be best heard. I do accept that trying to go down the road to be an MEP is long, but it is something that I want to do,” he said.
The meeting on Monday night was held in Millstreet, which he said was attended by about 80 people. While he said he got a warm endorsement from local FF politicians, it remains to be seen whether the FF party will, in time, give him the green light as an Ireland South candidate.
Mr Fitzgerald told The Corkman that he began his speech by firstly referring to media reports suggesting that he may be targeting Brian Crowley’s seat. Mr Crowley has failed to attend any European Parliament debates since his last re-election in 2014 because of illness. Mr Fitzgerald claimed it was “inaccurately reported” in the media that he was “somehow targeting Brian Crowley’s seat”. It is understood that Mr Crowley will make his position known in the next number of weeks. Two candidates will be selected to run on behalf of FF for MEP status, but this may be influenced on the boundary changes.
Mr Fitzgerald ran as a Renua candidate in the 2016 General Election. At that time and in an interview with The Corkman he said that he felt that Renua Ireland was offering “real change” for people and that there was a “real appetite for change” in Cork North West. When it was put to him by this reporter at that time that voters tended to slip into two categories in that region – FF or FG – he said that “people were tired of both parties and successive Governments who had failed to deliver”.
This week he was asked as to why he left Renua Ireland and joined Fianna Fáil last year.
“After the election in 2016, a lot of high-profile people left the party, but I stayed on until the end of 2016 and I felt it just had no future. I felt that Fianna Fail was a natural fit for me. The election results for Fianna Fáil spoke volumes. People are not tired of Fianna Fáil.”