Tánaiste appeals for 'fairness' after surprise motion of no-confidence against Maria Bailey

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has appealed for fairness after a failed local Fine Gael revolt to remove embattled south Dublin Fine Gael TD Maria Bailey as a party general election candidate.

Ms Bailey, criticised over her legal claim against a hotel for falling off a swing, is now facing demands from party members in her Dun Laoghaire constituency to be dropped from the next election.

A surprise motion of no-confidence against Ms Bailey was tabled on Thursday night at a party meeting in Blackrock by the TD's former personal assistant, Marie Baker.

The councillor, who previously worked for Ms Bailey in Leinster House and as her election agent, surprised party members when it was raised at the meeting in the Grange pub in Deansgrange.

While the motion was not on the meeting's agenda, Ms Baker said she was moving it as she did not think Ms Bailey “lived up” to Fine Gael values, according to sources who were present.

Ms Baker specifically cited, in a scripted statement, the injury claim against the Dean Hotel by Ms Bailey and asked members to consider the motion of no-confidence against her former employer. She said the issue had and continues to damage the party.

However, some elected and non-elected members spoke out against the move. Local party councillor, Barry Ward, told the meeting that Ms Baker's motion was “an ambush” against Ms Bailey. Mr Ward, already chosen to run in the constituency, said “fairness” and notice was needed in tabling the motion.

Ms Bailey told the Fine Gael meeting that “the elephant in the room” is the question about who would benefit from the motion against her.

Other members at the meeting also expressed concern about the lack of notice around the motion.

There was a vote and Ms Baker's motion was ruled out of order. It is understood that she left the pub quite soon after the meeting while Ms Bailey stayed on and bought a round of drinks for colleagues.

It is understood that constituency colleagues, TDs Mary Mitchell O'Connor and Sean Barrett, were not at the pub meeting.

Fine Gael officially declined to comment on the matter. However, party sources confirmed that Ms Baker's motion was ruled out of order.

It is unclear if any more attempts will be made at local level to move a motion of no-confidence against Ms Bailey.

The next larger Fine Gael Dun Laoghaire constituency meeting will take place on Nov 28 in the Royal Marine Hotel. Tributes are scheduled that night for the late John Bailey.

Commenting, Tánaiste Simon Coveney reaffirmed his support for Ms Bailey, who backed him over Leo Varadkar in the 2017 Fine Gael leadership race

"Maria Bailey is somebody who has paid a very, very heavy price for making a mistake... and she continues to pay that price. She is a very hard-working TD, she has been selected to represent Fine Gael in the next General Election, she is looking to rebuild her career and is working extraordinarily hard to do that."

He spoke of Fine Gael disciplinary action against Ms Bailey and the "detailed, internal investigation" into circumstances around her injury claim, adding: "There is a need for fairness here. When people make mistakes, particularly in politics, of course there is a consequence for that. I would encourage people to have some sense of fair play here, in terms of proportionality as regards the consequences of Maria's decision for her.

Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar said he supports Ms Bailey's candidature for the next election but that it is also a local constituency matter: "I have confidence in deputy Bailey as a candidate for the general election. She is somebody who made some very significant errors of judgement, but she has been reprimanded for that. She has been demoted and I demoted her and removed her as chair of the housing committee, but Fine Gael is a democratic party, and our members do decide who their candidate is. And we have to respect that."

Fine Gael sources say any confidence motion that succeeds could potentially go higher up the party line. It is also speculated that newly elected councillors, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and Lorraine Hall, may want to run in the next election. So far, Ms Bailey, Ms O'Connor and Mr Ward are the declared candidates.

Ms Bailey did not respond to queries from the Irish Examiner.