Fine Gael scrambles for hustings venues due to short timeframe

Fine Gael has been scrambling to book venues for its leadership hustings due to the short timeframe of the contest.

While the Fine Gael executive council signed off on some of the venues to hold its town-hall debates with members, a meeting was also held to formally approve voting dates, polling stations, and the rules of conduct around the campaign.

While TDs have the largest chunk of votes at 65%, councillors and the 25,000 grassroots members have also been given a vote for the first time. This will make the regional hustings an important element of the leadership campaign for Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar.