Desperate Dana seeks support of TDs and senators

DANA Rosemary Scallon is making a last desperate bid to secure a nomination for the presidency from 20 Oireachtas members before the midday deadline today.

But it looked last night as if the former MEP and Eurovision winner had no hope of getting the backing of this number of TDs and senators to enter the race for Áras an Uachtaráin.

While Dana insisted that she had secured the backing of a number of Oireachtas members, she would not put a figure on it.

And none of the political parties contacted by the Irish Examiner said they had supported her.

Dana went on an all-out campaign to snag the 20 names yesterday after she conceded she would not get the support of four local authorities needed to back her bid for the presidency.

Her spokesman said: “We have been locked out, it’s been like the Marie Celeste.” But he insisted they would fight right down to the wire.

“It is still do-able, we have got a number of signatures, which is encouraging - it’s not over yet,” Dana’s spokesman added.

But he would not specify how many TDs or senators had so far backed Dana and said they were targeting all Oireachtas members - regardless of their party’s stance with regard to Dana.

“Some parties imposed whips on their councillors and ordered them not to support Dana. We will know soon if they are doing the same with their TDs,” her spokesman said.

Dana’s letter to TDs and senators insisted that she is not seeking a “personal or ideological endorsement” but simply the right to run for the presidency because 14 years without an election would be unhealthy for democracy.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are both officially backing Mary McAleese for a second term as president, while Labour, the Green Party and Sinn Féin said none of their members had so far indicated they were backing Dana.

Fine Gael TD Michael Ring said he would support Dana if she could get the support of other TDs and senators, but he could not be reached at the time of going to press to see if he was one of her backers.

A Labour Party spokesman said that while they have imposed no whip on their Oireachtas members with regard to Dana, it was unlikely that she would get much support from within the party.

And while Green Party Councillor Niall Ó Brollacháin supported Dana’s bid for the presidency on Galway County Council, a party spokesman said yesterday they would not formally back her for the presidency unless she can get 14 other nominations.

Sinn Féin said they would not nominate Dana but may consider backing her if she managed to enter the race.