Back to the by-election drawing board for FF
IT'S back to the drawing board for Fianna Fáil in Meath after the withdrawal of Cllr Tommy Reilly from the contest.
To borrow a phrase from Dermot Quigley, the association of the chairman of Meath County Council with the disgraced former Government Press Secretary Frank Dunlop could give rise to a "perception of impropriety" being cast over his dealings.
While Mr Reilly says everything was above board in his purchase of 11 acres of land with Mr Dunlop in the late 1990s, and no allegation of wrongdoing has been made, the use of an offshore company registered on the island of Niue in the South Pacific has not helped his cause.
Ultimately, Mr Reilly jumped before he was pushed after pressure was brought to bear upon him by Fianna Fáil headquarters.
Yesterday, party insiders said he simply wasn't going to get ratification from the FF National Executive and the book is not fully closed on the internal investigation into the property deal. Rather than come out with a ringing endorsement of the chosen candidate, the party put off making a decision.
The latest postponement was in waiting for Communications Minister for Communications, Noel Dempsey, the Meath TD and bye-election campaign manager, to return from business in Japan, leaving MrCllr Reilly seeing the writing on the wall.
The setback obviously leaves Fianna Fáil's bye-election campaign in disarray. Considering the party is still looking for a candidate for the Kildare North bye-election, it all adds up to a huge headache for FF strategists, just weeks before the writ is due to be served announcing the official start date for the campaign.
Statistically, Fianna Fáil ought to be the favourites to win the Meath bye-election. The party already has three TDs in the constituency Mr Dempsey, Johnny Brady and Mary Wallace after increasing its vote to a sizeable 45% in the 2002 general election, compared with Fine Gael's 27% and FF took 38% of the vote in last year's local elections, ahead of Fine Gael's 27%.
But bye-elections are a different animal and tend to go with the party that holds the seat.
Yesterday, a Fine Gael bye-election campaign veteran summed up his
experience over the years.
"Bye-elections are all about whoever gets the head start," he said.
Fianna Fáil now look set to choose a young replacement with
Navan-based councillor Shane Cassells tipped to come off the substitutes' bench. The nephew of former union chief Peter Cassells and Meath All-Ireland winning footballer Enda Cassells was certainly shining brightest on the list of would-be candidates
going through an interview process.
His selection would bringput up the
enticing prospect of a clash between members of two well-known Meath GAA families as Fine Gael's candidate, Shane McEntee, is a brother of All-Ireland winner, Gerry McEntee.
In his capacity as PRO of the Navan Fianna Fáil Cumann, Mr Cassells urged people of the county who support the M3 motorway going through the Tara/Skryne valley to publicly back the project.
"A small group of people who are objecting to the project are shouting loudly and could jeopardise its construction," he said.
Mr Cassells will get a high-profile chance to shout back if chosen, but there are other considerations for Fianna Fáil Dominic Moran, a losing local election candidate from Kells, who got more votes than Mr Cassells last June, was also being suggested.
When John Bruton originally announced his intention to resign his seat to become EU Ambassador to Washington, FF strategists felt it was a prime opportunity to blood a candidate for the next election. The five-seat constituency of Meath is being split into Meath East and Meath West, at the next election.
With Mr Dempsey and Mr Brady both based in Meath West, leaving Ms Wallace on her own in Meath East, the ideal scenario would be to identify a candidate in the north-east corner of the county.
However, Fianna Fáil doesn't have the time to run the political equivalent of You're A Star and needs to quickly select a solid, if unspectacular, candidate.
Today, Fine Gael party leader Enda Kenny will officially introduce the party's bye-election candidates, Shane McEntee and Darren Scully from North Kildare, when he launches a billboard for the campaigns.
FG is keeping its cards close to its chest on the timing of the bye-election, but yesterday a party source predicted a March polling day.
Pressure is mounting on Mr Kenny to capitalise on Fianna Fáil's weakened position, as anything but an FG win would be disastrous for the party.
Fianna Fáil's aim at this point is just to get a credible candidate into the field.
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