MINISTER FOR Tourism Mary Hanafin and Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews have both ruled out moving from the Dún Laoghaire constituency they share to contest the general election in Dublin South.
Ms Hanafin said she did not know where the rumour that one of them would contest the election in Dublin South, where there is a vacant seat, had come from.
In an interview with The Irish Timesshe described the Andrews family as a "south Dublin family", while she had "no connection to Dublin South at all".
But she said it was not for her to say if anyone should switch constituencies.
The chances of Fianna Fáil holding two seats in Dún Laoghaire, which is changing from a five-seat to a four-seat constituency, “must be pretty tight; very, very difficult”, she conceded.
“Genuinely, it’s up for each person to make their own decision and it’s not for me to say who should move to a different constituency. That’s a huge move for somebody to do,” she said.
The Fianna Fáil convention in Dún Laoghaire is set for next Tuesday. Ms Hanafin said Dublin South voters had supported Mr Andrews’s uncle Niall Andrews, former MEP and TD, for many years.
“The Andrews family is a Goatstown family, a south Dublin family, and the Andrews name is a very good name, it’s a very good name in Dublin,” she said.
“They’ve been elected in Dún Laoghaire, in Dublin South and in Dublin South East, so it is a good name. But absolutely I’m not going to say anyone should move to a different constituency.”
Ms Hanafin said she had taught in Blackrock for 17 years and had a very strong base there.
In her 13 years as a TD she had “absolutely worked every day of it, with every group, every school, every community, every church fair, every everything. I mean, this has been my life”.
She noted her vote had increased in the last three elections, “so I’m certainly not going to turn my back on that”.
Mr Andrews also recently confirmed to The Irish Timesthat he was definitely not going to move and insisted he would "take his chances" in Dún Laoghaire.
Ms Hanafin also conceded “a good Fianna Fáil vote has moved”, as following the redrawing of constituency boundaries a former part of the constituency, including Foxrock and Cabinteely, is now in Dublin South.
“It wasn’t my area per se, insofar as if you look at the tallies I got votes right across the constituency,” she said.
A vacancy remains in Dublin South after former Fine Gael TD George Lee gave up the seat he won in the byelection brought about by the death of former Fianna Fáil minister Séamus Brennan, while sitting Fianna Fáil TD Tom Kitt is stepping down.
Among those also contesting the Dún Laoghaire constituency will be Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore and his running mate Senator Ivana Bacik; Fine Gael TD Seán Barrett and Cllr Mary Mitchell-O’Connor; Green Minister of State Ciaran Cuffe and People Before Profit councillor Richard Boyd-Barrett, under the umbrella group United Left Alliance.
“The next election is about the future of the country and the economy.
“It’s not about the Dún Laoghaire baths or the 46A [bus],” Ms Hanafin said.
