PATRICIA McKENNA, the former MEP for Dublin, said she had “very mixed feelings” about her failure to be nominated as a Green Party candidate for next year’s local elections.
Ms McKenna had allowed her name to be put forward for nomination for the Cabra-Glasnevin area for next year’s election. But the selection convention on Wednesday evening chose the other candidate, Gary Fitzgerald, a Green activist in the local area.
Ms McKenna said yesterday that another local member, Clare Cotter, had put her (Ms McKenna’s) name forward last week and she had agreed to it, to improve the gender mix and to provide a choice.
When asked was she disappointed at the outcome, she said she had “very mixed feelings about it”.
She said that if she had been selected, it would have prevented her seeking to regain the European Parliament seat she lost in 2004.
“It was being stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I had won I would not have been able to put myself forward for Europe. A lot of effort would have gone in and with a possible second referendum coming up on the Lisbon Treaty, it would have led to a lot of uncertainty.”
