FF plays down wooing Blaney
Dr McDaid, a deputy for 18 years, confirmed he will stand down next year. The announcement comes a year after his conviction for drink driving and 18 months after he lost his junior ministry.
There has been persistent speculation within the Donegal North East constituency that Dr McDaid’s retirement would pave the way for the Blaney organisation to be merged back into Fianna Fáil.
The organisation has held a seat in the three-seat constituency since 1971, when Niall’s late uncle, Neil T Blaney, left Fianna Fáil over the Arms Trial scandal.
A senior source in Fianna Fáil said yesterday that no talks had taken place. The party said it had not wanted to make any decision on electoral strategy until Dr McDaid’s intentions were known.
The senior figure said all options would be examined by the party’s constituency committee, headed by Brian Cowen, but that did not necessarily mean a possible wooing of Mr Blaney would be an option.
Dr McDaid said yesterday that several factors, some positive, some negative, had been behind his decision.
He said the drink driving incident last year had horrified him and “had a profound effect on me”. However, he also said there were few challenges left for him in politics and he would now concentrate on his medical career.
The Letterkenny GP, who is aged 56, has become a father again in recent weeks. His partner Siobhán gave birth to the couple’s first child, a son, Neal.
Dr McDaid’s decision was reached after a meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern last week. Yesterday, Mr Ahern paid glowing tributes to the Donegal TD, describing him as a friend and colleague.
“In politics James McDaid always stood out from the crowd. He was disarmingly frank in his views and invariably charming in his delivery,” he said.
Dr McDaid was first appointed a Minister in 1991 by Charles Haughey, but resigned only hours later from the Defence portfolio when the opposition attacked his links with a Provisional IRA member James Pius Clarke.
He was appointed the country’s first full Minister for Sport in 1997. Though he was praised for his handling of the sex abuse scandal in Irish swimming, he was criticised for championing the ill-fated plans of Mr Ahern for a National Stadium in Abbotstown.
He said he was very disappointed at his two demotions since 2002, first to a junior ministry and then to the backbenches in the September 2004 reshuffle.
If Fianna Fáil does not make a play for Mr Blaney, the most likely internal candidate is Letterkenny-based councillor Kieran Brogan.
Mr Blaney’s seat and the second Fianna Fáil seat will be vulnerable to Fine Gael senator Joe McHugh and Sinn Féin candidate Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.
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