Deasy and Darcy selected as FG election candidates

THE shock defeat of Senator Maurice Cummins at this week’s Waterford constituency Fine Gael convention may have sounded the death knell of his personal ambition to become a member of the Dáil.

With outgoing TD John Deasy always a racing certainty to capture one of the two nominations - he received 225 first-count votes - all the focus among the 500 delegates was on the battle for the other one.

Mr Cummins was regarded as the firm pre-convention favourite to join Mr Deasy on the ticket for the next general election, as he did in 2002, but in the end the spoils went to Waterford city councillor Jim Darcy. He headed Portlaw-based county councillor Paudie Coffey on the second count following the distribution of Mr Deasy’s surplus.