Conway and Taylor-Quinn await FG call

NORTH Clare Councillor Martin Conway said he expects to run for Fine Gael in the upcoming general election. Despite withdrawing his name from the party’s selection convention at the weekend, Councillor Conway believes he will now be added to the ticket by the Fine Gael National Executive Council.

Councillor Conway and former TD Madeleine Taylor-Quinn sought nominations at the county’s selection convention on Sunday. Both withdrew following a directive from the Fine Gael National Executive Council to select just two candidates to run in the constituency. Local party members chose sitting TDs Joe Carey and Pat Breen for the ticket.
“I felt it was most important for the two sitting TDs to be selected by the party and in the interest of party unity, I didn’t push it to a vote,” Councillor Conway commented, a view echoed by Madeleine Taylor-Quinn.
But the party is expected to run at least three and possibly four candidates in the constituency in the next election. Councillor Conway pointed out that, in the past, any candidates added to the ticket by headquarters first declared their interest at convention. He now expects himself or Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, or possibly both, to be selected to run.
“I gave a clear statement of intent during my speech at the convention that I was willing, ready and waiting to be added to the ticket and that I would go all out in that eventuality to gain a third seat for the party,” he stated.
“If Madeleine Taylor-Quinn is nominated by the National Executive and I am not and it is a three-candidate strategy, then fair enough that is what they decide. If neither of us are nominated, then it would be a retrograde step in terms of the selection processes within Fine Gael. Choosing candidates who put themselves forward to convention has been the established custom within Fine Gael in County Clare and I would be very hopeful that it would be a four-candidate strategy. I believe that I would have as good a case as Madeleine. I topped the poll in the last local election with more than 20% of the vote in North Clare and I also got a large number of transfers, which I didn’t need on the day,” he added.
Any further addition to the ticket is expected to be announced in the coming weeks and while Councillor Conway is a member of the party’s National Executive Council, he is keen to point out he is not involved in selecting candidates in Clare.
“When it comes to matters surrounding Clare, I have to excuse myself. I have no hand, act or part in the decision-making process,” he told The Clare Champion.
Madeleine Taylor-Quinn hopes there will be at least three candidates on the Fine Gael ticket and that in a four-seat scenario, she and Martin Conway would be selected to run alongside the sitting TDs.
“I am sure the powers that be will recognise the positive attributes that I could bring to the ticket and that there is a need for gender balance and there is a massive gap in West Clare. I believe Fine Gael has never been better positioned to contest an election and that three seats are there to fight for. We have an unprecedented political climate out there at the moment and people are literally yearning for leadership and hope and for guidance and direction and we have an obligation to put forward the best possible team to give voters the best reason to elect us,” she commented.
Ms Taylor-Quinn polled 3,592 first preferences in the 2007 election, while Councillor Tony Mulcahy, who also ran on the Fine Gael ticket, got nearly as many. Councillor Mulcahy believes three seats will be difficult to achieve and protecting the two existing seats is vital.
“Clare is not an easy constituency. There are no gimmes. In the last election, we ran four candidates and that happened more by accident than anything else. It was great that we won two seats and I had no problem with the outcome. You run to win but when you don’t win, it is like a hurling match and you get on with it. We ran the four and we got 20,000 votes and we got the two elected. I am not sure there are three seats there to win. The biggest thing is to secure the two seats you have,” he commented.
Councillor Mulcahy said running for election this time “is not something I am thinking about this week and I won’t be thinking about it next week”.
“I’m not in negotiations with anyone. I’m not talking to anyone. No backroom boys have called me and that is a fact. I assume the reason I might be being mentioned this time is that I contributed 3,500 votes the last time. If you look at the last election, myself and Madeleine Taylor-Quinn contributed about 7,000 votes between us. I was delighted with the votes I got and the party, I’m sure, has to look at the numbers and will be looking at the numbers. I am not canvassing for to be selected,” Councillor Mulcahy concluded.