Crowded Fine Gael dogfight for the Áras

Four are vying for the Fine Gael nod. But what’s between them? asks Michael Clifford

THEY’RE bunching out at the starting line now. Yesterday, Avril Doyle officially entered the race for the Áras. She is to seek the Fine Gael nomination on July 9.

The party now has four candidates vying to go forward under its flag, and why wouldn’t they? These are gravy days for Fine Gael, and who-ever emerges will likely be installed as favourite for the presidency.

With a salary of €325,000, and room and board taken care of, is it any wonder the field is so strong? The current incumbent is paying herself €250,000 and gifting the remainder to the state. But as with judges’ salaries, the president’s has not been reduced. The Government has not signalled any intention of reducing it either.

There are now effectively two separate races afoot.

On the one hand, the Fine Gael four are looking for an entry card that will propel the winner to the front of the field. The rest of the contenders — bar one — are loitering around county council chambers and Leinster House, panhandling for a few votes to get a nomination. The endorsement of four local authorities or 20 Oireachtas members is required.

Standing in splendid isolation is Michael D Higgins, elected last Sunday to run under the Labour Party’s flag. You will not find a better politician to belt out a poem of a winter’s night, but whether he can connect with the greater electorate remains to be seen.

The Blueshirt battle is the most intriguing, as it has the capacity to break out in an internecine squabble. Doyle is blue blood Fine Gael. She has served as a TD and MEP. Her family, the Beltons, go back all the way to the formation of the party in the 1930s. She is plugging into the party faithful, but is not necessarily personally popular.

She told Sean O’Rourke yesterday that she had a “basket of talents”. She used that phrase twice, as if she had picked them up trawling the aisles of the supermarket of life. She has adopted as her unique selling point the pitch that she straddles the Dublin/country divide. “I was born in Dublin, went to school and university here, married and went to live on a farm in Wexford.”

This was a dig at her fellow contender Gay Mitchell, who is perceived to have a weak appeal outside the capital. However, her Dub/culchie spiel may alienate city folk in Cork, Limerick and Galway, who don’t have much in common with female farmers from Wexford.

Her candidacy is straight out of the old Fianna Fáil template for the job — retired politician who has served the party, looking to be rewarded with the ultimate goodie.

Mitchell is from much the same stable, except he wouldn’t be as handy at milking cows. He has as good a chance as Doyle of convincing his party people that he is the man for the job. He is also something of a bruiser, which can be useful in the hurley burley of real politics, but might jar in a contest for the best person to drink afternoon tea in the Áras.

Mairead McGuinness was first out of the blocks, but her race may be already run. She also went to college in Dublin, and there is no better woman to have around if you want to slaughter a sheep. However, she is not popular with Fine Gael’s breed and will find it difficult to muster the required support.

That leaves Pat Cox. His ability and electoral nous is beyond doubt, and he could manage handy enough on a presidential salary. Launching his campaign last Friday, he emphasised his “humility” again and again, quite obviously attempting to tackle the widespread perception of arrogance that attaches to him.

Getting the nomination will be an uphill battle, but, ultimately, his fate may well be decided by research. Political parties do little of significance these days without finding out how it would go down with the voters. There will be private polling by the party. And if the result comes back that Cox is the favoured Fine Gael candidate, then the leadership will quietly put its weight behind him.

The rest of the field are currently scrapping around.

Dragons’ Den star Sean Gallagher, is looking good to get the nod from two of the four county councils required for nomination. In Clare County Council, a whip has been imposed on the Fianna Fáil members to back Gallagher. Party leader Micheál Martin said in May that elected members could nominate a candidate of their choice, but now it appears party chieftains are setting their own agenda in local fiefdoms.

David Norris is still standing, but his climb has steepened, and he has probably been overtaken by Niall O’Dowd. O’Dowd has returned home from New York to save the country. Apparently. O’Dowd has lived in New York for over 30 years and has joint Irish/American citizenship. He has an excellent chance of getting the nod from Sinn Féin Oireachtas members.

Finally, Mary Davis is unfortunate to have decided on running in a field at a time when running has never been as popular.

There’s still a long way to go to October. Still many twists in the road to the Áras. Still plenty of time for those left in the race to dream big dreams, about leading their country, and pulling down a fine pension.