Galway West
Galway Fine Gael shines in the shambles
Early in the general election campaign, the opinion polls suggested to sitting TD Seán Kyne that Fine Gael would retain two seats in Galway West.
But when two exit polls were published, showing a significant swing against the party, Deputy Kyne was sweating.
“We were very worried,” he admitted, soon after being returned to Dáil Éireann along with running mate, Senator Hildegarde Naughton.
The duo was elected on the 14th count, without reaching the quota, on the back of John O’Mahony’s transfers. Tight vote management ensured the Mayo TD’s transfers pushed Naughton ahead of Sinn Féin senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh on the final count.
It is the first time ever Fine Gael went into an election in Galway West with two TDs and retained them; and the constituency bucked the national trend of seat losses for the party.
Deputy Kyne, who was first elected in 2011, when after two recounts he was 17 votes ahead of Independent Catherine Connolly, said locally Fine Gael and his team in particular, had a strong campaign.
But the Fine Gael national campaign, he agreed, was a shambles.
Early on Saturday, Deputy Kyne said the leadership of the party had serious questions to answer – Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s “whingers” blooper was one of many mistakes, he said.
Upon his election, he clarified it wasn’t just Kenny but also the FG handlers and senior TDs in the party who were culpable for effectively snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
“Clearly we had a poor national campaign. It never really took hold. We had a lot of mistakes; a lot of issues. When I said leadership made mistakes I meant overall leadership, both elected and unelected. The message just didn’t gel. The campaign was planned for a long period of time; we had focus groups, as I’m sure all parties did.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
With half of the boxes in Galway City West tallied, the state of play in the six-seater is:
Donal Lyons (Ind) 23%
Pauline O’Reilly (Greens) 14.75%
Niall McNelis (Lab) 11.89%
John Connolly (FF) 9.86%
Pearce Flannery (FG) 9.48%
Peter Keane (FF) 7.3%
John Crowley (Soc Dems) 6.3%
Clodagh Higgins (FG) 5.9%
Salthill and Taylor’s Hill boxes being tallied now
There is a tired old cliché about people singing from ‘the same hymn sheet’ – but despite their diverse political backgrounds, it could certainly be applied in the case of Galway city’s two new TDs.
Because Fine Gael’s Deputy Hildegarde Naughten and independent TD Catherine Connolly hold common ground when it comes to a lot of issues relating to Galway city.
For example, in the aftermath of the general election they both agreed that University Hospital Galway should be moved to a greenfield site at Merlin Park. They also articulated this view on the first day of the new Dail last week.
And, separately, they were both in favour of the provision of dedicated bus lanes throughout Galway city with the acceptance that there will be no outer bypass for at least another decade. Deputy Connolly believes that the current proposal is simply “a cul-de-sac” and should never have been progressed.
Left-leaning Independent TD Catherine Connolly and right-leaning Fine Gael TD, Hildegarde Naughton, both believe UHG is at saturation point and are committed to the development of a new public hospital at the larger, more accessible site east of the city.
This, along with the promotion of public transport initiatives to help end traffic chaos in the city, is one of the common policy objectives the two new women TDs share.
They are only the second and third women TDs ever in Galway West, following in the footsteps of former Fianna Fáil minister, Máire Geoghegan Quinn.
Pressure is mounting on Galway West TD Noel Grealish to join Fianna Fail as the party attempts to be part of the next government.
The Fianna Fail organisation in the constituency are now convinced that Grealish may provide the party with the answer to winning a second seat in Galway West. And the organisation are disappointed that veteran TD Eamon O Cuiv has not delivered a second seat in the last two general elections. If Fianna Fail assume power, it is very unlikely that the Cornamona man will have a place at the front bench.
The party organisation in Galway West are now anxious that Grealish becomes part of their fabric and particularly as he is a proven vote-winner.
Grealish is part of an unofficial grouping in the Dail who are currently engaged with the two major parties with a view to forming a minority government.
The fact that the Carnmore man has been a TD since 2002, it is likely that he could be part of the front bench in the next government if he agrees to become part of the support that Fianna Fail require.
It was revealed last week that he had been approached by Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin to join up but he was not to be drawn on the issue.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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