This article is from page 3 of the 2006-09-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
FINE Gael leader Enda Kenny is optimistically seeking two seats in the next elections, despite claims at grassroots level that he is overloading the constituency with too many candidates.
Deputy Kenny has told The Clare People that he expects a 50 per cent success rate in Clare next summer.
“I think that if the people want change and a Government that will work as hard as they do, they’ll vote Fine Gael and give us two seats here in Clare,” he said.
“We have four exceptional candidates and as long as we work as a team and urge the voters to use their vote to change the Government, I’m confident we can take two seats.”
But the team have to carve out the mostly rural constituency between them.
In an unprecedented move, the party’s Executive Council added Cllrs Joe Carey and Madeleine TaylorQuinn to the ticket, which already included Deputy Pat Breen and Cllr Tony Mulcahy following a contentious convention in May.
It was believed Mr Kenny had promised Cllr Taylor Quinn a place on the ticket if she ran in the European election, a promise that he kept.
A party poll at Christmas showed an increase in Fine Gael popularity in Clare and the possibility of securing the coveted second seat the leader now craves.
But the addition of the two names led to fears among local party members that its current seat was in danger. At a national conference in Athlone, Deputy Kenny tried to revert back to a selection process that would allow a number of delegates from each branch select the candidates.
He was narrowly defeated in a vote, which meant the one-person -one-vote method introduced six years ago remained. This week, he said he had no plans to change that selection process.
Meanwhile, he refused to speculate about the chances of a Clare minister in a Fine Gael-led government.
“Forming a Government and appointing ministers is a job for after the election,” he said.