Dooley almost sparks election

ON the eve of the British general election, Clare Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley and his Galway colleague Frank Fahey almost precipitated a general election here.
The Government was forced to rely on the support of Ceann Comhairle Seamus Kirk on Wednesday evening after Deputies Dooley and Fahey voted the wrong way and supported a Sinn Féin motion to move the writ for the Donegal South-West by-election.
The seat is vacant as a result of Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher’s election to Europe 11 months ago.
Deputy Dooley’s blushes were saved when the vote tied at 76 apiece, forcing Deputy Kirk to use his casting vote to defeat the motion.
Deputy Dooley told The Clare Champion he inadvertently “pressed the wrong button” as did Deputy Fahey while they were sitting in the Opposition benches.
Deputy Dooley insisted Government Chief Whip, John Curran immediately knew that what had happened was done in error and did not need an explanation.
“It has happened that some people forget to press the button in time. In my case, there wasn’t enough time to correct the vote.
“However, there was still the capacity to call a second ‘walk-through’ vote after the electronic vote but this wasn’t needed after the Ceann Comhairle provided his casting vote.”
The Chief Whip said the Government does not have the time to get involved in elections right now, “because it is too involved in resolving the economic crisis”.