O’Donoghue EC contender

SPORTS and Tourism Minister John O’Donoghue has emerged as a second contender for Ireland’s next EU commissioner.

The front-runner until now has been Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh.

But Mr Walsh’s selection would lead to a by-election in Cork South-West and a likely Fianna Fáil defeat Fine Gael held two out of three seats there until the last general election when Fianna Fáil took a second.

Local election results indicated a swing back to Fine Gael with their support up to 42%, while Fianna Fáil’s has slumped to 29%.

“On these figures Fianna Fáil would not hold Joe Walsh’s seat in Cork South West and FF cannot afford another election hammering in the wake of the disastrous local elections,” one local analyst said.

But in Kerry South, Fianna Fáil would have a better chance of keeping Mr O’Donoghue’s seat if he was sent to Brussels.