Margaret hoping to try again for Seanad

FORMER South West Fianna Fáil TD Margaret Murphy O’Mahony is hoping to win a Seanad seat in the wake of  former junior minister Michael D’Arcy’s resignation.

Speaking to The Southern Star this week, Margaret said she had been inundated with calls from people around West Cork urging her to go for the Seanad by-election when it happens.

‘I would be very interested in going for the seat if Fianna Fáil are running a candidate. However, I have been told by party leader Micheál Martin that because of the set-up in the government at the moment, the party may be backing a Fine Gael candidate. But if Fianna Fáil are going to run a candidate I would like to be that candidate,’ she said.

The Bandon woman had been highly critical of the Fianna Fáil party machine for running two candidates in the election, which saw her party colleague Christopher O’Sullivan win his first Dáil seat. Her subsequent bid for a Seanad seat in the culture and educational panel was also unsuccessful.

During the summer Margaret denied a rift with Deputy O’Sullivan following his election, despite being involved in a very public spat on Twitter. Deputy O’Sullivan had tweeted that it was time for the party to ‘move on’ following some high profile appointment rows.

But Margaret re-tweeted his comments, adding: ‘Is there not a more private forum to convey this message to your colleagues?’ Deputy O’Sullivan at the time also dismissed any notion of a rift between them.

‘I’m not a bitter person and all I can say is that it probably was a wrong strategy to run two candidates in the constituency. I have great respect for Christopher and we just have to move on,’ Margaret said at the time.

Margaret, who is now working for Senator Diarmuid Wilson, tweeted last week that ‘politically, 2020 has been a difficult year for me’ but said things are good overall, and she is enjoying her work. The former deputy said she’s ‘not going away’ and hopes to be back in the political field soon.