TIPPERARY NORTH CONVENTION:FORMER FIANNA Fáil Minister of State Máire Hoctor last night came through a major threat to her political future when she fended off a strong challenge at her local selection convention.
Some observers had predicted defeat for Mrs Hoctor prior to the Fianna Fáil Tipperary North selection meeting, with the main opposition coming from county councillor Micheal Smith jnr – son of former cabinet minister Michael Smith.
Fianna Fáil decided to run just one candidate in the constituency for the forthcoming general election and in the end Mrs Hoctor beat Mr Smith by 176 votes to 131 at the convention in the Ragg outside Thurles.
Afterwards, Mrs Hoctor said Fianna Fáil members have to “make the people know” that Labour and Fine Gael “are not ready for Government”. Fianna Fáil “have not gone away and we have not died”, she said.
A third candidate, councillor John Hogan, withdrew at the outset of the convention. The move caused some surprise as he came close to defeating Mrs Hoctor for a nomination for the 2007 general election.
Mrs Hoctor has been a TD since 2002 when she successfully ran for the first time, joining Michael Smith snr on the party ticket. She later served as minister of state for older people but was demoted in March 2009 when Brian Cowen reduced the number of ministries. She has been an outspoken critic of Mr Cowen’s performance as Taoiseach in recent months.
Hundreds of party supporters packed into the venue for last night’s selection event, with 306 members entitled to vote.
Michael Smith snr represented the constituency for many years and served as a cabinet minister when Albert Reynolds was taoiseach.
The party has held two out of three seats in Tipperary North in the past, with Mr Smith snr losing his seat in the 2007 election, but declining opinion poll ratings led the leadership to opt for a one candidate strategy this year.
Mrs Hoctor upped the ante earlier in the week when she ruled out allowing her name to be added to the ticket by party headquarters in the event of her losing out at the convention. She said she did not believe running two candidates would help Fianna Fáil hold its seat, given current levels of support.
John Hogan has been a councillor for 11 years and unsuccessfully sought a Dáil nomination in 2007, while last night was councillor Michael Smith jnr’s first attempt at an election nomination.