Galway Fine Gael councillors confirm they will back party’s new candidate following departure of Mairead McGuinness
Fine Gael’s Galway county councillors say their group is “proceeding as normal” in committing to vote along party lines for a presidential candidate, following the exit of Mairead McGuiness from the Áras bid.
Fine Gael councillor Jimmy McClearn, who acts as the party lead in the local authority, said McGuinness “would have made an excellent president” but that “nothing has changed” regarding their earlier unanimous decision to back a Fine Gael candidate.
Councillor Siobhán McHugh-Ryan described McGuinness’s departure as “a terrible blow to Fine Gael,” adding: “She was probably one of the strongest candidates to put her name forward, so there is a little bit of disappointment there.”
The party’s pledge to vote together has not gone without criticism. At a July plenary meeting, the Irish Independent reported that councillors from other parties accused McClearn’s declaration of loyalty as “anti-democratic,” arguing that inviting candidates to present when Fine Gael members had already made up their minds undermines the process.
Cllr McClearn defended his original statement by saying: “It would be contradictory for us to be supportive of any other candidate, you can’t back two horses in this one race but whoever comes forward for Fine Gael, which will become clear in the very near future, we will be putting our vote to that particular individual.”
A special meeting is expected to be held where potential candidates will present themselves to the council. Fine Gael councillors, including Cllr Eileen Mannion, said they still plan to attend of their schedule allows: “I would still like to hear what they have to say.”
Cllr McClearn plans on participating as part of his responsibility to represent his party. “Abstaining is the same as voting for somebody, so I expect all of my colleagues who can be there will be there, but we have not discussed that.”
Heather Humphreys remains Fine Gael’s top choice as a replacement for Mairead McGuiness but the road to the Áras candidacy has come to be quite crowded in Fine Gael with MEP Seán Kelly believed to be actively considering a bid too.
Cllr Mannion expressed hope that Humphreys will ultimately be chosen as the party’s nominee.
“We will, in the coming days, sit as a group and see what is best going forward for us as a party,” Cllr McHugh-Ryan said.