McGuinness enters tight, three-way FG race for Dáil seat
The Ireland East Euro MP was expected to formally announce her candidature today, triggering a tight three-way FG fight in the constituency.
She will face incumbent TDs Fergus O’Dowd from her own party as well as Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern, Fianna Fáil’s Seamus Kirk and Sinn Féin’s Arthur Morgan.
With all four sitting TDs going for re-election, it will be an uphill struggle for both Ms McGuinness and Mr O’Dowd to get elected.
However, Fine Gael won two seats in the Ireland East European Parliament constituency in 2004 when Ms McGuinness ran a spirited campaign which saw her elected alongside party colleague Avril Doyle.
The decision to run both candidates in that election provoked an internal battle which paid off in the end.
Senior party strategists hope the decision to run two big names in Louth could succeed in a similar way.
However, with the FG vote down to 20% at the last Dáil election, the plan could end up costing Mr O’Dowd, the party’s environment spokesman, his seat.
Ms McGuinness, who lives in Louth, has let it be known for some time she would be keen to stand in the constituency.
Fine Gael high command believes it must adopt a bold electoral strategy in seats like Louth to have any chance of restoring its numbers in the Dáil to a position where the Rainbow Alliance could mount a serious challenge for Government.
