ONE OF Fianna Fáil’s most senior politicians has admitted the party will “not find it easy” to win a single seat in three-seat constituencies at the forthcoming election.
However, Minister for the Environment and Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív said the campaign would not be “fun” if it was easy.
Speaking at the party’s Tipperary South selection convention on Saturday night, Mr Ó Cuív warned against splitting the party vote by running two candidates in three-seat constituencies.
Party headquarters dictated that, following the defection of Mattie McGrath, who is now running as an Independent, just one name was to be put on the Fianna Fáil ticket for Tipperary South. That contrasted with three candidates in the 2007 election.
Another indication of the Fianna Fáil slump was the attendance at Saturday night’s convention, an estimated 170, down from the 340 who attended the convention for the last election, when Mattie McGrath, Martin Mansergh and Siobhán Ambrose were chosen to run.
Faced with opposition from the floor, Mr Ó Cuív said it would be “divisive” to vote on the issue and the party organisation returned sitting Minister of State Mr Mansergh as the sole candidate.
The other nominees – Ms Ambrose, Andy Moloney and John McCarthy – withdrew.
Mr Ó Cuív said he could “understand” the views of party members who wanted to run two candidates in such a constituency.
“However, this is not normal times,” he said. “and the big challenge facing us is that . . . we’ll still not find it easy to win one seat in a three-seat.”
Referring to Mr McGrath’s campaign, Mr Mansergh said there would be attempts to “cannibalise Fianna Fáil support” in favour of a candidate who had severed ties with the party. “You can be independent or you can be Fianna Fáil. You can’t be both,” he said.
Fianna Fáil also chose one candidate to run in Waterford, sitting TD Brendan Kenneally.