Glut of TDs vying for EU seat may do harm
Main parties face major upset as sitting politicians look to jump ship
FEARS are growing within the two largest parties that the glut of sitting TDs putting themselves forward for European election tickets will damage morale.
A number of Fianna Fáil selection conventions have been delayed because of the leadership’s concern about those putting their names forward.
The Dublin selection convention, however, is going ahead because the party believes that the leadership’s favoured candidate Barry Andrews is a shoo-in.
Preparations for the Munster convention and the Midlands-North West are up in the air because of declarations of interest from sitting TDs. Cork North-Central TD Billy Kelleher has put his name forward for the Munster convention, while CavanMonaghan TD Brendan Smith is seeking a nomination in the Midlands-North West constituency.
The Irish Mail on Sunday also understands that Galway East TD Ann Rabbitte and Offaly TD Barry Cowen are considering entering their names for the MidlandsNorth West constituency.
A senior source said last night: ‘We are concerned about sitting TDs putting their names forward but the leadership won’t be sitting back taking this.’
If a TD is elected to the European Parliament, he or she will have to be replaced in the Dáil via a by-election. Fianna Fáil will assess how achievable wins are in byelections before allowing candidates to run.
A senior Fianna Fáil source said the party’s National Constituencies Committee will ‘have its say on who gets onto tickets’.
On the delay of the conventions, the source said: ‘Fianna Fáil only holds conventions when it knows the outcome in advance.’
The Fianna Fáil source added that there are also concerns within Fine Gael – which faces the loss of Dáil seats – over its sitting TDs running for Europe.
So far, John Deasy, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, Frances Fitzgerald and Paul Kehoe have all shown interest in representing Fine Gael on tickets.
‘There was a time when you couldn’t get anybody to stand for Europe,’ said a Fine Gael source, ‘now we can’t stop them.’
Mr Kehoe, who only retained his Dáil seat by 52 votes in 2016, is believed to be ideally positioned to contest for a second Fine Gael seat in the Munster constituency, which includes Wexford, his home base.
With the de facto Defence Minister facing serious unrest within the armed forces over pay and conditions the prospect of a European run is all the sweeter.
Apart from Mr Kehoe and Mrs Mitchell O’Connor, at least two other high-profile Fine Gael TDs – Frances Fitzgerald and John Deasy – are believed to be considering a run in the May elections.
Should two of these four Fine Gael TDs be elected, the Government would lose its current working majority of two and become dependent on the vote of the Ceann Comhairle to survive.
Significantly, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has not yet followed the precedent set by Micheál Martin, who has attempted to impose a ban on TDs running for Europe.
‘Leadership will have its say on who gets onto tickets’ Fine Gael risks losing its working majority