This article is from page 69 of the 2009-05-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 69 JPG
WITH exactly one month until the European Elections, Fianna Fail has just one candidate in the race for Ire- EE TteM Condom one
Party members in Clare now be- lieve that it is not possible to find a candidate to replace outgoing MEP and formerly declared candidate, Sean O’Neachtain.
Geographically, the party’s only candidate, Paschal Mooney, is in Leitrim and miles from the Banner County, and many in Clare feel he is unlikely to have any significant im- pact here.
While Fianna Fail has just one can- didate named, Fine Gael launched all of its European candidates, including two for Ireland North West, on Sun- day.
Eleven counties in total make up the Ireland North West Constituency – Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscom- mon, Sligo, Clare, Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan Longford and _ West- meath.
None of the eight candidates de- clared are from Clare, however, with the nearest candidate hailing from Galway in the form of the Libertas founder and party leader.
Sitting MEPs Marian Harkin (Ind) and Jim Higgins (FG) are now the
only two MEPs hoping to retain their seats in this three-seater con- stituency.
Other candidates seeking election include Senator Joe O’Reilly for Fine Gael, Padraig Mac Lochlainn for Sinn Fein, Fiachra O Luain will run as an Independent and Susan O’Keefe has declared for Labour.
Ms O’Keefe is the journalist who exposed malpractice in the beef in- dustry that led to the establishment of a tribunal of inquiry in the 1990s.
In 1995, she was threatened with prison for refusing to reveal her sources on the beef industry story.
Senator O’Reilly, from Cavan will join Jim Higgins on the Fine Gael ticket.
A former schoolteacher, Sena- tor O’Reilly was elected to Seanad Eireann (Industrial and Commercial Panel) in July 2007 and polled al- most 10,000 first-preference votes in General Election, 2007.
Sinn Fein’s Cllr Mac Lochlainn is from Donegal, as is Independ- ent candidate Fiachra O Luain. Mr O’Luan, who is the founder of the website www.dearmrpresident.eu, has invited European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and all of the candidates from the North West to a debate in Donegal on the eve of the election.