Red faces in FG as cllr to run for Seanad

FINE Gael have been left red-faced after one of its own representatives became the first person in Ireland to announce plans to run for the new Seanad — despite the party promising to scrap the upper house.

In an update on her blog yesterday, Cork city councillor and former deputy lord mayor, Laura McGonigle, said she wants to “contest the forthcoming Seanad Éireann election.”

The Fine Gael representative, who is part of Cork South Central candidate Deirdre Clune’s backroom election team, added that she is “delighted” to have been nominated to the upper house’s industrial and commercial panel.

The move contradicts her party’s own stated policy to hold a referendum on scrapping the Seanad within months of being elected to the Dáil.

It also jars with an online statement from Ms Clune on the same day as that of Ms McGonigle which placed plans to “abolish the Seanad” at the top of a list of Fine Gael election promises.

“Within 12 months of being in government, Fine Gael will hold a referendum where the public will be given the opportunity to vote on the abolition of the Seanad,” Ms Clune confirmed.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Cllr McGonigle — who had originally sought to be placed on the general election ticket before pulling out of the contest — said she discussed the move with unnamed “senior people within the party” who have been supportive of her plan.

She said until the referendum on the Seanad takes place, “Fine Gael HQ does not have a problem with party members contesting elections to organs of the state”.

The Cork councillor added that she intends to serve the “full term” of the upper house for however long it lasts and is seeking a seat “because I believe whoever is in power will need to be held to account by a strong Oireachtas”.

The latest opinion polls strongly suggest her own party will be in power.

Despite Cllr McGonigle’s defence of the move, her plan appears to have received little official support at party headquarters.

In a statement, a Fine Gael spokesperson explained: “Political reform is a key pillar of Fine Gael’s five-point plan to get Ireland working. We want to reduce the number of politicians by 35% and have a referendum to abolish the Seanad.

“Any aspiring candidate for the Seanad, no matter what their affiliation. should be aware of Fine Gael’s determination to allow the people decide on the abolition of the Seanad.”