The Labour TD for Westmeath, Mr Willie Penrose, has declined to comment on speculation that he might seek the presidency of the party at its national conference next May. "The issue does not arise at this time," he said yesterday.
Following Friday's elections, three former Democratic Left deputies now hold the senior posts in the party. Mr Proinsias De Rossa is president, Mr Pat Rabbitte is party leader and Ms Liz McManus is deputy leader.
Mr Penrose supported Mr Rabbitte for the leadership and is expected to be appointed to a senior front-bench position. Should Mr De Rossa decide to stand down as president, Mr Penrose, as a representative of traditional Labour, would be an obvious candidate.
In an interview on RTÉ Radio yesterday, Mr Rabbitte defended remarks he made on the Late Late Show on Friday night when he expressed a preference for Mr Penrose as deputy leader. "I canvassed for Willie Penrose during the election process and I was not likely to abandon him while the count was still going on."
He added that Mr Penrose represented something very important in Labour. "He does not just have extraordinary support in his own constituency in Westmeath. He has it throughout provincial Ireland. We had an unspoken arrangement during the contest . . . It is very important that Willie Penrose continues to play a prominent part in the leadership of the party."
In the deputy leadership election, Mr Penrose received 1,123 votes; Ms Liz McManus, 1,003; Ms Joan Burton, 869; and Mr Joe Costello, 452. After distribution of Mr Costello's votes, Mr Penrose had 1,248 votes, Ms McManus 1,150 and Ms Burton 1,029. Distribution of Ms Burton's votes resulted in Ms McManus's election, with 1,728 votes to 1,636 for Mr Penrose.
