FG-ers don’t play ball so Mayor relies on FF friends in low places

Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley

The big talking point at this year’s mayoral ball in the Radisson Hotel last Friday revolved not about who was there – but who wasn’t.

Mayor Frank Fahy was in flying form at the annual bash, which raises funds for charity. Around 200 people attended.

That didn’t, however, include any of his Fine Gael Galway City Council colleagues. Blueshirt Galway West TD, Hildegarde Naughton, was there pressing the flesh, as was the county’s newest junior minister, Seán Kyne.

But conspicuous by their absence were: Fine Gael city councillors Pádraig Conneely, Pearce Flannery and John Walsh.

“It was poor form,” snorted one attendee.

What made their no-show even more interesting was the three Fianna Fáilers on the Council – Crowe Bros Ollie and Michael John, as well as Peter Keane – put Civil War politics to one side, and made the effort to wine and dine with the enemy.

The only other city councillors who turned up were Labour’s Niall McNelis, and Independents Terry O’Flaherty and Noel Larkin.

There was no sign of the Shinners although you’d hardly expect them to be there. But what excuse had the Blueshirts?

Times are tough when a Fine Gael mayor can’t rely on his own, and has to call in Fianna Fáil rent-a-crowd. At least they livened up the party.

Keeping enemies close

Seán Kyne’s elevation to high office is a textbook example of how, in politics, knifing someone in the front can reap more rewards than stabbing them in the back.

Ever since the Galway West TD has been elected he’s been trouble.

Well, trouble for his leader, An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, that is.

When the Coalition swept to power in 2011 and held an overwhelming majority, there were rumours that Seán was among the troublesome ‘five-a-side’ group of Fine Gael TDs.

This was a ragbag of bored backbenches, who caused headaches for the party leadership. They weren’t part of the Kenny’s inner circle – they were nowhere near it.

And so they’d sit around and bitch and moan about political reform and other things that didn’t really interest the Mayo man.

Kenny got his own back on Kyne, when, a reshuffle in the last term, rather than promoting Kyne to the Gaeltacht junior ministry.

The Moycullen-er was right to be miffed. He was the only bloody TD in a Gaeltacht county who could speak Irish; and yet he was snubbed by Kenny in favour of Donegal’s Joe McHugh.

What a kick in the teeth for Kyne – McHugh had better Mandarin than Gaeilge and yet still no promotion.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.