Eventful day sees Dana and Norris get on the ballot

AFTER a roller coaster of a day which saw them race from council meeting to council meeting, Senator David Norris and Dana Rosemary Scallon eventually obtained four council nominations each to ensure their place in the race to the Áras.

Dana was elected by early afternoon with Offaly County Council clinching the deal for her. Carlow, Roscommon and Donegal County Councils had already given the singer their support. Westmeath County Council, however, voted against her yesterday by 10 votes to nine.

Both independent candidates needed either four council nominations or 20 Oireachtas signatures to ensure they were allowed run for the presidency.

Mr Norris suffered an early morning set back when Cork County Council voted against his nomination by 20 votes to nine. However, Waterford City Council came to his rescue with Cllr Mary Roche’s proposal carried by six votes to three with five abstentions and one absentee.

The three votes against were from Fine Gael members Hillary Quinlan, Tom Cunningham and John Cummins while their party colleague Jim D’Arcy abstained, as did the two Labour councillors present, Sinn Féin’s John Hearne and Independent Davy Daniels.

Afterwards, Cllr Mary Roche said local councillors had few enough constitutional powers and it was important they exercise those they did have. “It has been something of a shock to see the amount of people who think democracy should only prevail when it aligns with their own point of view.”

A regular user of Twitter and Facebook, she said she’d received several messages urging her to reconsider her decision to propose David Norris for a presidential nomination. “I’m being prayed for all over the world... I’ve got tweets from priests as far away as Kenya, telling me they’re praying for me to change my mind.”