TURMOIL IN FF OVER HANAFIN ELECTION BID
Former minister was told NOT to run by the party
FORMER minister Mary Hanafin is running as a Fianna Fáil candidate in south Dublin contrary to party orders, sparking turmoil within the party the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Fianna Fáil issued a statement yesterday saying Ms Hanafin had been told not to put her name forward to represent the party in the Blackrock area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Council in the local elections.
Conflicting decisions on whether to run Ms Hanafin along with the president of Ógra Fianna Fáil, Kate Feeney, have
caused confusion within the party. However, new documents at Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Council show Ms Hanafin has registered to run for Fianna Fáil in the May 23 election. She is believed to have had the papers lodged some time yesterday.
After our sister newspaper, the Irish Daily Mail, broke the story yesterday that Ms Hanafin was to contest the local elections there was confusion at Fianna Fáil party headquarters.
A candidate requires papers of ratification from the party before lodging their application to run.
Fianna Fáil issued a statement on the Blackrock Local Election Area (LEA) yesterday saying: ‘The Fianna Fáil National Constituencies Committee reviews the candidate strategy across the country on an ongoing basis.
‘Following encouraging indicators, the committee decided to explore the possibility of securing two seats in the Blackrock LEA. As part of this process, Mary Hanafin agreed to stand as a candidate.
‘Following further analysis and following discussion with the existing candidate, the committee met on Friday evening and decided that securing two seats was unlikely and that the party should proceed with its original one-candidate strategy.
‘Mary Hanafin was informed of that decision on Friday evening in the clearest possible terms and has been made aware that there will be only one Fianna Fáil candidate in the Blackrock LEA, Ógra President Kate Feeney.’
Ms Hanafin could not be contacted for comment yesterday. How a person who had been told that she was not being backed by the party could put in official papers to the council to stand as a candidate for the party is not understood.
The possibility still stands that there may have been a clerical mix up or a communication breakdown at some point.
Kate Feeney is one of the party’s bright prospects. Her mother is the former senator Geraldine Feeney.
Ms Feeney said last night: ‘I knew the constituencies committee were reviewing the situation, they were reviewing a lot of LEAs, mine included.
‘They did consult me on that as part of the process and they did think that there were two seats there.
‘But based on what I’m hearing knocking on doors and based on where we are coming from in Blackrock, I firmly put it to them that there is only one seat and that is the strategy that we should put forward,’ she said.
‘I conveyed this to them and they met last night and they decided to go with the one-candidate strategy, and that’s their decision and I respect it. That’s the power that they have and party members will respect it.
She added: ‘That’s where I am. With regards to Mary, Mary has been a big player in Fianna Fáil as I was coming up through Ógra, and I respect a lot of the work that she did, particularly in education. And I respect the impact she had out in Dún Laoghaire and she was a great public rep there.
‘Mary’s a great party player. At the end of the day she is a party person and she puts the party first and I think that Mary will respect the decision of the committee as every other party member would.
‘I’m sure Mary respects the final decision of the committee and that she will do whatever she can do to rectify the situation.’
A number of Fianna Fáil members in the Blackrock local election area expressed their concern at what appears to be a ‘chaotic’ situation. A Fianna Fáil source said the party bosses were ‘extremely unhappy’ with the situation and that they expect Ms Hanafin to withdraw her application.
While candidates had to lodge their papers to stand for the local elections yesterday morning, it is understood that Ms Hanafin has until noon on Tuesday to withdraw her application to stand. As things stand, however, Ms Hanafin, who described Fianna Fáil’s performance in the polls last month as ‘brutal’, will contest the election for the party.