Hildegarde wins key Fine Gaeler’s support

A city based candidate in next month’s general election has received a timely boost – as she has received a resounding endorsement from one of Fine Gael’s most influential figures.

Senator Hildegarde Naughton is one of three FG candidates standing in Galway West and this week her campaign has received the support of former councillor Jarlath McDonagh from Turloughmore.

This is Senator Naughton’s second general election campaign and she is hoping to benefit from the fact that her city colleague and former TD Brian Walsh has decided to quit politics on health grounds.

And her campaign has been boosted by the support of former long-serving councillor and member of Seanad Eireann, Jarlath McDonagh who is still a very influential member of the party.

McDonagh quit politics at the last local elections in 2014 after more than 30 years a member of Galway County Council. He topped the poll twice in the Oranmore and what was known as the Galway Rural Electoral Area.

He was succeeded on Galway County Council by Frank Kearney from Turloughmore who is backing former Galway football manager Deputy John O’Mahony’s campaign.

In fact, O’Mahony has opened a constituency office in Claregalway and there were some raised eyebrows within Fine Gael that McDonagh – who also has a strong GAA background – bypassed O’Mahony and has thrown his weight behind Hildegarde Naughton.

In the 2011 General Election, Senator Naughton received 3,600 first preferences but would need to up this significantly by at least 2,000 votes to be in with a realistic chance of taking a seat.

In recent weeks, she has been canvassing the rural areas and, indeed, was well received when she paid a visit to the Turloughmore area recently.

Of course, she has strong family connections in Oranmore where she hopes to capture some of the 5,000 votes that former FG candidate Senator Fidelma Healy Eames received on the last occasion.

Fine Gael in Galway West are running three candidates in the hope of retaining the two seats they won in the last occasion.

While the bookies are giving her a very outside chance of winning a seat, she will be heartened by the fact that her odds have shortened. Her running mate Sean Kyne is second favourite behind Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív.