Fine Gael’s geography lesson

Fine Gael is reviewing the decision which effectively resulted in the party not running a candidate in Ballinasloe – a move which many feel cost the party a vital seat.

Fine Gael headquarters issued a directive to select just one candidate for the Roscommon-Galway constituency and it proved to be a disastrous move.

But not having a candidate in the Ballinasloe end of the constituency meant that Deputy Denis Naughten mopped votes that enabled him to end up more than 2,000 votes more than required to exceed the quota.

The clear run resulted in Naughten sweeping up more than 1,000 first preferences in Ballinasloe town alone. In the Creagh NS box he received almost 400 first preferences, according to the tally figures.

There were two nominated to contest the Fine Gael constituency in the Roscommon-Galway constituency – Cllr Maura Hopkins from Ballaghaderreen in the north of the constituency and Senator Michael Mullins in Ballinasloe.

But then a directive came down from FG headquarters instructing that only one candidate be selected at convention which prompted Senator Mullins to withdraw from the race.

“We left the goal wide open for Naughten to score . . . and by jaysus did he take up the opportunity,” declared Fine Gael’s Cllr Michael Finnerty who had been pushing for a FG candidate in Ballinasloe.

The tally figures show that Maura Hopkins received just over 850 votes in the Ballinasloe area and only lost out on a seat to FF’s Eugene Murphy by a relatively small margin.

Fine Gael now accept that had they run ‘a sweeper’ in Ballinasloe, they would have probably won a seat in the constituency.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.