Former West Clare local election candidate, Mike Taylor, faces possible expulsion from the Fine Gael Party after breaking party rules.
Mr Taylor, who received 473 votes in the 2019 local elections in Kilrush, has been pictured canvassing for Kate O’Connell in the Dublin South Constituency in recent days.
According to Fine Gael rules, no member of the party is allowed to canvass for a non-member of the Fine Gael Party in an election.
Ms O’Connell, a former Fine Gael TD, is running in Dublin as an Independent after reportedly falling out with the party leadership. She was a vocal supporter of Simon Coveney in the 2017 leadership campaign which was won by Leo Varadkar.
In a letter, seen by The Clare Champion, an unnamed member of the Fine Gael party has made an official complaint against Mr Taylor for breaking Part 1, section 2 of the Fine Gael constitution by canvassing for a non-party member.
The letter states that “I anticipate that the party would react appropriately and move to expel Mike Taylor from the organisation”.
Speaking to The Clare Champion yesterday, Mr Taylor said the attack was “personal” and “political”. “I’ve given 14 years of my life to the service of the party in different ways. I have helped out in countless election campaigns and referendums, more than I can count,” he said.
“I am not an office holder and, from my perspective, the idea that somebody would anonymously reach out to the local media to create some sort of a storm about me in the midst of the general election campaign seems political and personal. And I can fairly easily guess the individual in question.
“I have a long history in the party of speaking my mind when it comes to the direction that the party should take. Some people want to drag us back to the days of Liam Cosgrave,
“I am not about that. I believe that Fine Gael should be a progressive, broad church party. Like it was under the leadership of Enda Kenny.
“It makes me wonder, when you have people who should be singing from the same hymn sheet as you, briefing against you for the local media. It’s a very strange situation to be in. Somebody would rather cut off their nose to spite their face for the sake of a personal shot.”
Speaking yesterday, Mr Taylor said that he had never attempted to hide his support for Ms O’Connell.
“I would be disappointed if this complaint was actioned upon. I have chaired the Young Fine Gael branch here in Clare, I have stood for election, I have sat on the national steering committee for Fine Gael LGBT,” he said.
“I stand on my record of always trying to do right by the party and always trying to make the party a more welcome space to be in. I fully respect the process that has to take place when a complaint is made.
“I signed up to a constitution and rules of the party when I became a member. As a former local election candidate, I took the party pledge. I understand that there are rules and that these rules should be applied fairly to everyone.
“In the past people have been able to do this [canvassing for a non-party member] and the rules have not been fairly applied. If the executive council decide that they want to mollify my membership of the party, I have no issue with that.
“What I do take issue with is the hours and years of dedication to the party. I have brought people with me who would never have voted for my party. I promised them something different, I promised them that we wouldn’t hark back to the days of old.
“It has been a pretty tumultuous few years for the party under the leadership of Leo Varadkar, I don’t think anybody in the party would not acknowledge that at this stage. I disagreed with him fundamentally on a lot of issues about how the party is run and maybe this is my come back for that?
“I would also like to say that I have not hidden my activities at any point. I’m not sneaking around behind the backs of the people of Clare. I am being true to myself as progressive, that’s what I always sold myself to the people of Clare as, that’s what I always sold myself to the people of Fine Gael as.”
Andrew Hamilton is a journalist, investigative reporter and blogger who has been working in the media in Ireland for the past 20 years. His areas of special interest include the environment, mental health and politics.