Politics

Fine Gael will have candidates for half of its departing TDs by end of July

Party intensifies preparations for next general election with all selection conventions due to be held by September 22nd

Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney are among the Fine Gael TDs not contesting the next election. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw/PA Wire
Cormac McQuinn
Thu Jul 18 2024 - 14:16

Fine Gael will have selected replacement candidates for half of its departing TDs within the next two weeks as it ramps up general election preparations.

Selection conventions will by the end of the month have been held in seven of the 14 constituencies where Fine Gael TDs elected in 2020 will not be seeking a return to the Dáil.

Party leader and Taoiseach Simon Harris, along with the other Coalition leaders, has repeatedly insisted the intention is for the Government will run its full term into early next year. However, there has been much speculation that voters could be going to the polls in November after the Government’s last budget.

Fine Gael plans to have all of its selection conventions completed by September 22nd.

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Of the 17 conventions that will have been held before the end of July, 11 are in places where the party has a departing TD or other constituencies where it currently has no seat such as Waterford and Tipperary South.

A party source pushed back against the suggestion there is a strategy to finalise these tickets first to allow new candidates to bed in before the election, saying “all constituencies are priorities”.

Wednesday night saw the selection of councillors Bridín Murphy and Cathal Byrne to run in Wexford in an attempt to retain the Dáil seat being vacated by Paul Kehoe.

Five potential candidates – former TD Pat Deering, Catherine Callaghan, Orla Kelly, Cllr Michael Doyle and Cllr David Fitzgerald – are due to compete for at least two places on the Carlow-Kilkenny ticket, where sitting TD John Paul Phelan will not be contesting the election.

Cork East will hold its selection convention on Friday with Mark Stanton, the son of departing TD David Stanton, vying for a place on the ticket with Cllr Noel McCarthy.

Next week will see five hopefuls compete at the Cork South Central selection convention, where the party’s long-time TD Simon Coveney has confirmed he will not be contesting the next election. The Cork North-West selection convention will be held in the last week of July, with Michael Creed TD set to stand aside at the next election.

Dublin lord mayor James Geoghegan was the first Fine Gael candidate selected back in January. He will run in Dublin Bay South where Fine Gael has not had a seat since former minister Eoghan Murphy left politics in 2021.

Earlier this month, councillors Naoise Ó Muirí and Aoibhinn Tormey were selected to run in Dublin Bay North as the party seeks to keep the seat being vacated by former minister Richard Bruton. A convention for Dublin West, where former taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed this week he will not be seeking re-election, is not due to be held until September.

Cormac McQuinn

Cormac McQuinn

Cormac McQuinn is a Political Correspondent at The Irish Times