Kitt confirms he will stand in Galway East again

Veteran TD Micheál Kitt has announced that he will be a candidate in the Galway East constituency in 2016 – ending any speculation that he is about to retire.

The long-serving Fianna Fail TD told The Connacht Tribune that he would be a candidate in two years’ time. He has no intention of retiring from politics anytime soon.

He has also been encouraged to continue in politics by grassroots party members who are still seething over the recruitment of former Labour TD Colm Keaveney in Tuam.

Deputy Kitt confirmed “I will be going” when asked if he had any interest in contesting in the new three-seater Galway East constituency.

There had been some speculation that Deputy Kitt, who was first elected to the Dail in 1975, might retire in advance of the next general election.

But he has firmly refuted this speculation, saying that he was still interested in representing Fianna Fáil into the future and hoped that the party would form part of the next government.

The Kitt announcement could put a dent in the aspirations of Keaveney to retain his seat. Kitt polled more than 6,500 first preferences last time out compared to Keaveney’s 4,200.

However, with the changes in the boundaries announced last year, all of Ballinasloe and a strip across to Dunmore is now part of the new Galway-Roscommon constituency.

It means that Kitt has lost a sizable chunk of his first preference vote into Roscommon and will not be even able to vote for himself from his Castleblakeney base.

There is a theory that Fianna Fáil will win one seat, Fine Gael will also win one with the third certainly up for grabs and could possibly go to an independent candidate. If this is the case then Cllr Sean Canney in Belclare is the favourite.

It is known that there will be at least three nominations for the Fianna Fáil ticket for Galway East. Apart from Kitt and Keaveney, it is strongly believed that newly elected councillor Anne Rabbitte from Portumna will seek a nomination.

Last week Cllr Michael Connolly in Moylough said that he would be interested in running for the Dáil but only in the event of Deputy Kitt retiring. It looks as if he will be out of the race come the 2016 general election.