Ross and Chu among political ‘galácticos’ tipped for Seanad run
Former minister is early favourite to take Trinity seat vacated by Ivana Bacik
SEANAD insiders have installed former minister Shane Ross as an early favourite to win the upper house by-election, caused by Ivana Bacik’s Dublin Bay South victory.
Mr Ross has not yet said he is running. Nonetheless, he is among a wave of political ‘galácticos’ tipped to contest Ms Bacik’s Seanad Trinity College seat.
Before becoming a TD, Mr Ross won 11 elections in a row for Trinity, a feat only surpassed by David Norris.
He is just one of several big names rumoured to be planning a comeback in a seat that has provided the State with some of its most iconic and colourful political figures.
The former Independent Alliance leader failed to win a seat in his Dublin Rathdown constituency in the 2020 General Election.
The entry of the high-profile politician and journalist would certainly energise the contest.
One Seanad source told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘If Ross runs he will attempt to turn it into a referendum on the Government.’
A second referendum on the Government, after the Dublin Bay South by election, will be the last
thing a jittery Coalition needs or wants, but the independence of Trinity means it would have no choice.
One Government source said: ‘We can’t sew the nominations
or the votes up. Trinity is an independent republic, and they decide the what and the where of what happens.’
Unlike other Seanad by-elections where the electorate and
nominators are TDs and senators, Trinity’s are decided by the college’s graduates.
Trinity’s independence also means the date of the election is set by the college, not by a political party.
And parties have traditionally fared poorly in Trinity elections.
In 2020, two independents, Lynn Ruane and David Norris, were elected along with the now-Labour TD Ivana Bacik.
But this will not dissuade the main parties from an attempted raid.
One Fine Gael source told the MoS: ‘James Geoghegan has an entitlement to run here. The party should back him, get him back in the saddle.’
However, the Trinity Seanad panel has a tradition of electing colourful independents.
One senator said: ‘Even Ivana was semi-detached from Labour. Ross could return in triumph… ‘This would offer him the opportunity for a glorious return. Vindication at last, “I came. I saw, I conquered”.’
Other Fine Gael sources hinted the Seanad could offer former Dublin Bay South TD Kate O’Connell a way back to frontline politics.
One source told the MoS: ‘Leo’s guys won’t be able to stop her there. She could be our Ivana. Semiindependent but wearing a discreet Fine Gael badge.’
However, it is believed the multi-capped Irish rugby player and former Goldman Sachs director Hugo MacNeill, the partner of Fine Gael TD Jennifer Carrol MacNeill, a rising figure in the party, may also run.
One source said: ‘There are plans to build a dynasty there. Hugo, who lost out narrowly the last time, would be next in line.’
Sources also suggested that highprofile Green party councillor and former Dublin lord mayor Hazel Chu might also be a contender, despite being engulfed in a row with her party after she made an unsuccessful independent run at the upper house in April.
One source said: ‘This is an election designed for Hazel. She could become the Green Party equivalent of Norris. Outspoken, cosmopolitan, an eclectic thinker…
‘The leader [Eamon Ryan] might consider extending the hand of friendship and sending Hazel to semi-permanent exile in the Seanad Elba.’
Fianna Fáil is not expected to run a candidate for the vacant Trinity seat, following the party’s disastrous showing in the Dublin Bay South election.
One party figure told the MoS: ‘We have had quite enough of elections for some time.’
‘This is an election designed for Hazel’