Ex-mayor threatens to make solo run

AN ex-Lord Mayor of Cork, allegedly “deserted” by his Fianna Fáil party, is threatening to stand in the election as an independent candidate.

Veteran councillor Dave McCarthy said he will make a decision within days. He said he was the victim of the party’s two-candidate strategy which saw TDs Noel O’Flynn and Billy Kelleher ratified for the Cork North Central constituency. The Cork city councillor fought to be added to the ticket but the party stuck to its guns and decided not to run a third candidate.

Mr McCarthy claimed there was support for him to become a TD in his native northside, where he served as a councillor for 22 years.