FF leader admits election process failure in Clare

FIANNA Fáil has decided to scrap its controversial interviews for election candidates, party leader Micheál Martin confirmed this week after he admitted the system cost them two council seats in Clare in 2009.

Michael Begley from Clonlara, a former Fianna Fáil councillor and PJ Ryan from Sixmilebridge, failed to get party nominations in the last local elections after going through the interview process. Both subsequently won seats as independents, in the Killaloe and Shannon areas respectively.
The election of Councillors Begley and Ryan, combined with the loss of four seats by Fianna Fáil, dramatically altered the political balance in Clare County Council.
If they had remained in the fold, Fianna Fáil may have secured 13 seats and, in the process, would have remained as the biggest party in the local authority.
Instead, Fianna Fáil slipped back to become the second largest party with 11 seats (-4) after Fine Gael won 12 (+2), with seven Independents (+2) as well as one Labour Party and one Green Party councillor.
Announcing a radical overhaul of its party structure and future election strategy, Deputy Martin, on a visit to Ennis on Tuesday, confirmed the party would revert back to the tried and trusted selection convention to choose the majority of its candidates to contest the 2014 local elections.
Deputy Martin noted the party has a reasonably strong base of county councillors. However, he identified Shannon and Ennis as areas where the party needed to significantly increase its political presence on local authorities. He said area representatives would be sought in Ennis and Shannon to work with the local organisation with a view towards being selected as new candidates.
Deputy Martin also said the party needed more young people and women to join.
The Fianna Fáil leader confirmed that members of the Clare Comhairle Dáil Ceanntair have been very critical of the interview process used in the lead up to the 2009 Local Elections.
“The interview system that existed irked a lot of members and provoked a lot of anger. It was regrettable that these two councillors [Michael Begley and PJ Ryan] didn’t make it through the selection convention. That was a loss to the party, they are very good councillors. It is a great pity that that happened and I regret that,” he said.
Deputy Martin has promised to overhaul the party’s selection strategy by engaging with the local organisation through meaningful dialogue. He pledged the fundamental decisions to select candidates would be made by the local conventions.
However, he admitted that candidates could still be added to contest an election to address any geographical imbalance or other genders issues that may exist.
Responding to Mr Martin’s comments, the two Independent councillors have pledged not to rejoin Fianna Fáil in the near future.
Councillor Begley said he was supposed to be interviewed at 9.30pm in September 2008, was called an hour later and the first thing the interviewers said was, “we will keep this as short as possible as we have been here all day”.
The Clonlara councillor said he felt the interviewers had their minds made up before they even called him and described it as a waste of time for someone who served on two councils.
“I don’t see myself going back to Fianna Fáil in the near future. I would never say never but I don’t have any plans to rejoin the party. I didn’t decide to go Independent Fianna Fáil and handed back my membership card.
“While I went Independent, I needed the support of Fianna Fáil people so I explained that I wanted to run as a FF candidate but FF didn’t want me. There may be a case for an interview system in a small number of constituencies if candidates are not obvious but in the vast majority of the country, it doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
First elected in 1991, Councillor Begley was re-elected in 1999 when he topped the poll exceeding the quota by 20%. In 2004, Fianna Fáil decided to run four candidates for two seats, in a crowded field of 10 candidates following the departure of Tony McMahon (Fine Gael). He lost out by one vote to party colleague and newcomer, Tony O’Brien.
Councillor Ryan recalled he was interviewed 30 minutes after Councillor Begley for what proved to be “a pointless exercise”. “I felt those doing the interview knew everything about me already. I was told on December 22, 2008 I wasn’t successful in the interview. I felt aggrieved as I felt I had enough done following 30 years’ service in the party and was entitled to a shot as a FF candidate.
“I have no regrets. People elected me as an Independent and I will remain Independent for the foreseeable future. I have no animosity towards the party. I felt I had no problem at local level; the problem came from the top.
“The people who interviewed me came from outside the county and it seemed they were already briefed before the interview. I had served at practically every level at Comhairle Dáil Ceanntair and cumann level,” he said.
Councillor Ryan was a late entrant into the 1999 contest, where he lost out narrowly and only lost by narrowly in the 2004 elections.
During his interview with The Clare Champion, Mr Martin confirmed meetings have already been held with the Clare Comhairle Dáil Ceanntair to identify local area representatives who could become candidates in 2014.
“The key political milestone is the local elections in 2014. In Clare, Fianna Fáil has a platform it can build on. Deputy Timmy Dooley and Dr John Hillery did very well in the last General Election, given the gale force wind blowing against the party in terms of the economic collapse.
“I am confident with the strong councillor base and with Deputy Dooley working hard on the front bench, we can come back in this constituency,” he said.
Deputy Martin met with the Shannon Fianna Fáil cumann, where the discussion focused on the fact that the party has no representation on the local town council.
“That is not good enough. We have to identify with people who live in the area, who are of the area and who are anxious to serve in politics and ask them to join Fianna Fáil party and create opportunities for them to represent their community,” he said.