O’Keeffe in the zone but it’s not comfortable
But it certainly didn’t prove plain sailing for Cllr Kevin O’Keeffe, who is seeking to retain the seat that his father, Ned, held for 28 years in the Cork East constituency before announcing his retirement.
Kevin, a farmer, hadn’t stepped through the door of the mart in Fermoy when he was attacked by an FF supporter who didn’t like the outcome of the party’s recent constituency selection convention.
“I wouldn’t vote for you the way you treated Frank O’Flynn,” Pat Cronin, a farmer from Glenville, said.
On the night of the selection convention, Ned O’Keeffe dropped the bombshell that he was retiring. He had, however, put his son on the ticket and Kevin was automatically selected to run alongside outgoing TD, Michael Ahern.
Cllr Frank O’Flynn, who said he would have contested a nomination if he’d had known Ned was to retire, publicly expressed his disappointment.
So Fianna Fáil has internal strife to worry about as well as the backlash from the public.
Kevin O’Keeffe, 46, admitted that he was getting “a fair bit of negative feedback” on the doorsteps.
“I have met people who have always voted for my father and say they won’t vote for me. People have also said ‘I’d love to vote for you, but as you’re FF I can’t.’ I’m trying to persuade them it wasn’t my fault as I wasn’t in power.
“I also remind them that Ned was critical of a lot of things the Government did, which could work to my advantage.”
His comfort zone was restored when Tommy Norris, from Mitchelstown, said he’d vote for him. “There’ll be a backlash against FF and Kevin will need every vote he can get,” he said.
Another Mitchelstown man, Liam Fogarty, also pledged his No 1, adding he didn’t think FF would get the hammering at the polls people expected.
After 45 minutes canvassing by himself, Kevin saw his father enter the mart. “The cavalry’s arrived,” he quipped.
Ned swept in with his cohort of troops and the comfort monitor rocketed to eiderdown status.
However, it didn’t last for long as Fine Gael troops soon swamped the mart, led by Cllr Tom Barry, who his party believe is a real hope for a seat.
Pleasantries were exchanged, the comfort zone was somewhat restored, until one farmer, who declined to give his name, shouted at Kevin O’Keeffe “You’ve the country f***ed.”
The FF contingent then departed for the potential terror of the streets of Fermoy. Cian O’Meara, a 36-year-old dentist, had no problem telling Kevin he wasn’t getting a vote. “It would be very short-minded of any person to vote for a party which has let us down so much.”
But Gene O’Sullivan described himself as grassroots FF and people like him would “do the business for the party.”
Kevin O’Keeffe admits the two FF candidates will probably be fighting for the last of the constituency’s four seats. He’s crossing his fingers that he’ll get the nod over Michael Ahern.
