This article is from page 3 of the 2006-04-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
VETERAN politician, Senator Brendan Daly and Clare County Counillor, Pat Hayes, are reassessing their political future, after they missed out on selection at last night’s party selection convention for next year’s general election.
Senator Timmy Dooley, who topped the poll, was elected on the first count, at the convention in the West County Hotel, Ennis.
Minister of State, Tony Killeen, had to wait until the third count, before he was elected to join Senator Dooley, on the Fianna Fáil ticket.
Following the convention, Senator Daly said the convention “made a decision and I will take it into account before making any further decisions.”
Councillor Hayes said he would be back and would support the Fianna Fáil team.
Earlier, chairman of the Clare Comhairle Dáil Cheantar, Denis Hayes, opened the selection process by making reference to a direction from headquarters, last week, that the convention select two candidates, one less than expected.
He appealed to the members to use their Comhairle Cheantar and Cumman to air any grievances and not to go “running to the media”.
The directive had set rumours in train that a third name was to be added by party chiefs in Dublin, much to the annoyance of some within the party in Clare.
Concerns were also expressed that the convention would follow the fate of the Galway West convention, overseen by Clare Minister for State, Tony Killeen. That convention was suspended when Galway delegates refused to follow headquarters’ directions.
But Clare was to handle its affairs differently according to Mr Hayes.
“The last few days have been traumatic and people have been understandably upset, including myself,” he said.
He admitted that “things could have been handled better”, but told the delegates that they were “going to handle things with dignity and decorum”.
After the four candidates agreed to the term of the convention, the four candidates, Senator Brendan Daly, Senator Timmy Dooley, Councillor Pat Hayes and Minister for State, Tony Killeen, were asked to leave the conference room, while their political futures were voted upon.
Visibly under pressure, the four left the podium and the room, knowing just two of them were going to be successful. Seconds before the election, seasoned delegates were still unable to call the result, adding to the tension.Delegates called by name to vote by secret ballot, did so without protest, debate or “running to the media”.