A fiercely contested battle for the right to represent Fine Gael in Galway West, where even the sitting TD and senator cannot take their nomination for granted, is expected at the party convention this weekend.
Fine Gael will hold its Galway West election selection convention in the Salthill Hotel this Sunday at 5.30pm.
The party’s National Executive met this week to discuss the Galway convention and it is expected to make a recommendation to members to select two candidates only from the eight who have put their names forward.
The eight candidates are Dep Pádraic McCormack, Sen Fidelma Healy Eames, councillors Hildegarde Naughton, Brian Walsh, Sean Kyne, and Pádraig Conneely, as well as Keith Stephens and Seosamh Ó Laoi.
However three of these are likely to pull out on the night. Cllr Kyne, Cllr Conneely, and Mr Ó Laoi are likely to withdraw their names as they do not wish to stand against Dep McCormick. This leaves five people fighting for two places on the ticket.
A Fine Gael source told the Galway Advertiser that competition for the places is “fiercely competitive, it will be very, very tight”. However as the party’s standard bearer and sitting TD since 1989, Dep McCormack would appear to be virtually certain to be nominated.
Sen Healy Eames enjoys the support of three of the largest FG branches in Galway West - Maree, Oranmore, and Turloughmore, and in this has a clear advantage over her rivals.
However the party source said that the race is “much closer than you would expect between McCormack, Healy Eames, and Walsh”. With anything up to 5-600 members to vote on the night, the quota will be c160/170 and that “nobody will reach that on the first count”. As a result McCormack and Healy Eames can take nothing for granted.
Both would still be favoured to take the two places on the Galway West ticket, but it is understood FG will eventually run three in Galway West. However who to run still poses problems.
Cllr Walsh is based on the east side of the city, in the same region as McCormack and Healy Eames and this risks splitting the vote and neglecting other areas of the constituency.
Cllr Naughton is also based in the city and has strong links to Oranmore. However this means she and Sen Healy Eames could cancel each other out, allowing independent TD Noel Grealish to squeeze through. Keith Stephens would be seen as too inexperienced just yet.
However Clr Brian Walsh, speaking on Tuesday, said he was “anxious to be added to the ticket”. “I have a strong team of people behind me and I can be a strong city candidate,” he said, “and we need another city candidate if we are to win two seats in Galway West.”
