Bradley Bytes
Lucinda a loser as Renua lacks Charity
To lose one potential election candidate in Galway may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose two is downright careless.
Such is the lot of Lucinda Creighton and her new party Renua.
First, Lucinda failed to woo Independent Senator Fidelma Healy Eames into the fold to contest Galway West for the party in the general election. This despite the fact that FHE and Lucinda were bosom buddies for a while there when they were in the Reform Alliance together, a precursor to Renua.
But Fiddy never joined Renua. Possibly because Lucinda’s views on the gay marriage was at odds with the Oranmore senator’s. Or possibly because Lucinda was busy batting her eye lashes in the direction of Independent County Councillor, James Charity.
Whatever the reason, Fidelma shunned Renua and decided to contest the election as an Independent.
Then Charity was unveiled as the great white hope of a seat in the constituency for Renua. But now Lucinda has lost Charity, too, not long after they unveiled him as the candidate for Galway West.
His reasons for leaving are bizarre. Given that Renua had no policies when Charity joined it, isn’t it a bit odd that he’d quit due to their “absence of policies” on health and agriculture? Charity also says his main reason for leaving is he is at odds with Renua’s water charges policy, but that can’t be why he left because nobody seems to know what that policy is.
We’ll put forward an alternative theory. It appears Charity just likes the sound of his own voice – he is a barrister after all. And in a field of up to 20 candidates, the 32-years-old is struggling to hear his own dulcet tones above the general racket of the rest of the candidates trying to out-do each other in the lead in to polling day.
And after spending over two months in the party, he has also come to realise what everyone else knew two months ago, that Renua is a busted flush.
So Charity became uncharitable to Creighton and decided to kill two birds with one stone: make a lot of noise while abandoning a ship that is going nowhere . . . and milk his exit for maximum publicity.
For more of Dara’s column including:
Poorly Padraig; Connemara Station Safari; and Labour Works for Business