This article is from page 10 of the 2006-06-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
THE Clare People has learnt that senior Fine Gael officials visited the county in the last ten days to meet privately with the four candidates from last month’s convention.
The party is now believed to be close to making a decision about who should represent Fine Gael next summer.
It is understood that the party will stick to a promise made by party leader, Enda Kenny, to Cllr. Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, two years ago, offering her a place on the ticket.
Fine Gael General Secretary, Tom Curran, and the National Director of Elections, Frank Flannery, met with the candidates in an attempt to resolve issues to emerge out of the convention fiasco.
It is believed that they held out a Seanad nomination, in a bid to decide which of the candidates outvoted at the convention would be added to the Dáil ticket, for next year’s election.
This offer is thought to have been refused by Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn, in light of a previous deal she made with the party leader.
It is believed that Enda Kenny promised the former TD and Opposition front bencher a chance to run in the next general election if she put her name forward for the European election in 2004.
It is understood that having secured 22,000 first preference votes from the county in 2004, Cllr Taylor-Quinn is now insisting that the party adheres to the deal and adds her to the ticket.
Sources say that senior officials have now agreed that the deal was indeed made and should be adhered to.
Fine Gael sources also claim that the son of former TD Dónal Carey, Cllr. Joe Carey has been offered a Seanad nomination, but that there has been no suggestion that he is out of the running for the Fine Gael ticket.
Meanwhile, some members of the party in Clare believe that just two Fine Gael candidates should go forward, while others argue that a third candidate is necessary.
There has also been suggestions that a final decision is unlikely to be made until Fianna Fáil shows its hand.
On Sunday May 14, the Clare Fine Gael delegates elected sitting TD Deputy Pat Breen and Shannon Town Mayor Cllr Tony Mulcahy to represent the party in the next election.