ARTHUR SPRING, the nephew of the former tánaiste and Labour leader Dick Spring, has put his name forward for nomination as a Labour Party candidate in European elections in the South constituency which will be held in June of next year.
The other candidate for the nomination in Muster is Senator Alan Kelly from Nenagh in Co Tipperary who was elected to the upper house last year.
Both the candidates are in their early 30s and a fierce battle for the nomination is expected once the rules for the contest have been decided today by the Labour’s national executive council (NEC) which meets in Dublin.
Under party rules each of the candidates was required to have a nomination from party branches in two constituencies.
The NEC will have to decide whether the party’s candidate should be elected by postal ballot or at a special nominating convention later in the summer.
The decision of the party to select a candidate for the South constituency at this early stage, while leaving the other three Euro constituencies until later in the year, caused some surprise in the party.
Arthur Spring put his name forward at a party selection convention for a Seanad nomination last year but surprisingly lost out and did not contest that election. Alan Kelly was nominated for the agricultural panel and won a seat.
Another Labour defeated candidate in that selection process for an Oireachtas nomination, sitting Senator Michael McCarthy, contested the election and retained his seat in the upper house.
Mr Spring’s decision to contest the nomination against Mr Kelly indicates that the Spring family’s commitment to continuing in national politics. Mr Spring had earlier indicated his intention of contesting the local elections for Kerry County Council.
The South constituency is a three-seater and the seats are currently held by Brian Crowley of Fianna Fáil, Colm Burke of Fine Gael, who replaced Simon Coveney after his election to the Dáil, and the Independent Kathy Sinnott.