AT LEAST a dozen independent candidates will appear before Cork County Council on September 22nd in a bid to secure backing from councillors for the presidential race.
However, a directive from Fine Gael HQ informing its members that they are not to support any independent candidates has received a mixed response from some of its councillors in West Cork
Speaking to The Southern Star, Cllr Ted Lucey believes that councillors like himself could have been asked more politely about voting for Heather Humphries rather than sending a directive from headquarters.
‘Obviously when we joined Fine Gael we signed the party pledge and that’s fair but it could have been done better I think like a letter from the leader maybe,’ said Cllr Lucey.
Cllr John Michael Foley said that when one signs the party pledge, one has to be prepared to support the party and he has no problem supporting Heather Humphries, while his colleague Cllr Brendan McCarthy said he was okay with the directive being sent to councillors and he is happy to support the Fine Gael candidate.
Meanwhile, there was huge disappointment for Ireland South Fianna Fáil MEP, Billy Kelleher, who lost out on the party selection to former Dublin GAA football manager, Jim Gavin on Tuesday. The secret ballot undertaken by the parliamentary party to secure a candidate for the presidential election saw Gavin secure 41 votes with 29 votes for Kelleher.
While admitting that being the Fianna Fáil candidate for President of Ireland would have been a great honour for him personally, he said Jim Gavin will have his ‘absolute support’ in the upcoming campaign and election.
‘I am very heartened by my strong showing in the selection process. I want to sincerely thank all those who voted for me.’
Some political sources are now pointing to a split in the Fianna Fail camp because leader Micheál Martin and his Cabinet ministers had pledged support for Jim Gavin, and the vote was tighter than expected.
Earlier this week, Kerry County Council had the distinction of being the first local authority in the country to host potential candidates seeking support for the upcoming Presidential election.
These independent candidates who need to be formally nominated by four local authorities to get onto the election ballot included electrician William P Allen from Drimoleague as well as former Cork city mayor and Independent Councillor Kieran McCarthy who along with 12 other candidates had 15 minutes to make pitches to the councillors and answer their questions.
Last week Lord of The Dance maestro Michael Flatley withdrew his name from the presidential election race as did former weather presenter and meteorologist Joanna Donnelly.
Flatley said he had to put his family and his health first.
