Galway West
Galway West poll-topper only rules out formal Coalition
By Stephen Corrigan
Galway West poll-topper Éamon Ó Cuív gave the clearest indication yet that he would be prepared to support a Fine Gael-led minority government, following his election on Sunday morning.
According to Deputy Ó Cuív, the government has been thrown out and for Fianna Fáil to enter coalition with them would be defiant of voter’s wishes.
But he did concede that the country needed a stable government and that all options should be considered.
“We have to make sure there is a functioning Dáil, but on the other hand, I think there are many ways of dealing with that – that are much more constructive for Irish politics,” he explained.
He believed that the inconclusive result of last Friday’s General Election could lead to an altogether more open and transparent form of governance in Ireland.
“It could likely happen that we won’t elect a Taoiseach the first day, and if it failed us to elect a Taoiseach, we could facilitate the election of a Taoiseach on a one-off basis and we could then say we’ll take it issue by issue, but you’re going to have to totally reform how the Dáil works,” he said.
Discussing the prospect of having to get a 60 per cent consensus on every finance bill, the Cornamona poll-topper said that this would allow for informed debate and give all members of the Dáil the opportunity to have an input.
“Instead of just announcing the budget on budget day, you’re going to have to go into proposals and committees and you’re going to have to get agreement on those in an intuitive time rather than this big bang announcement on budget day which is a throwback to nineteenth century Britain,” said Deputy Ó Cuív.
He added, “That would be a very novel and new way of doing things, but it might be a hell of a lot better than the system we have had up to now.”
This would seem to support the idea of the so-called ‘Tallaght Strategy’, used by Alan Dukes as leader of Fine Gael, to support the Fianna Fáil minority government from 1987 and 1989.
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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