Neill O’Neill
FINAL nominations for the forthcoming Seanad elections closed last Friday – and five Mayo-based candidates are in the race.
Fine Gael have two candidates in Ballina-based County Councillor Michelle Mulherin and outgoing Senator Paddy Burke from Castlebar, who served as Leas-Cathaoirleach of the Seanad for the last five years. Fianna Fáil’s John Carty, who lost his Dáil seat in last month’s General Election, is his party’s sole representative, while Dr Mark Garavan will contest in the NUI constituency. The remaining candidate is Castlebar-based auctioneer Tom Collins who has a nomination from the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute on the Industrial and Commercial Panel.
For outgoing Cathaoirleach of Westport Town Council, Cllr Tereasa McGuire, however, no nomination was forthcoming from her party, while Mayo VEC Chairman Pat Kilbane, from Achill, did not get a nomination from the National Council of the IVEA to contest the election, that honour went instead to the newly-elected Mayor of Galway, Tom Costello.
Michelle Mulherin will contest the Administrative Panel elections, while John Carty and Paddy Burke will be in the race for a seat on the Agricultural Panel. Tom Collins is chasing a place on the Industrial and Commercial Panel, but is doing so on an outside professional nomination, meaning that he is contesting the election without the endorsement and widespread support of a political party.
Dr Mark Garavan is one of 24 people seeking a seat on the NUI panel. The estimated 103,000 electorate of NUI graduates received their ballot papers in the post yesterday (Monday) and have until July 24 to decide who gets their vote.
The six seats available to NUI and Trinity College graduates are campaigned for and won through a postal election, while those contesting the 43 panel seats go through a similar campaign and election process to that of the general election – the difference being that only incumbent TDs, outgoing senators and sitting city and county councillors across Ireland have a vote. After the election results are announced on July 24 next, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will announce his eleven nominations to the Upper House and complete the 60-strong line-up of the twenty-third Seanad.
Speaking to The Mayo News, Cllr Tereasa McGuire said she was disappointed but felt that it wasn’t meant to be.
“I would have being going up against two of my close friends in Michelle Mulherin and Nicky McFadden [Fine Gael County Councillor in Westmeath] on the Administrative Panel so I will support them and campaign for them now. My heart is disappointed but my head realises that the time probably wasn’t right and that there will be another day.”
Dismissing rumours of discontent with her Fine Gael colleagues, she said ‘I am, and always have been, a Fine Gael woman and I remain committed to the party at every level’.
Pat Kilbane echoed a similar sentiment, saying that he was not disappointed to miss out but was delighted to have been nominated by Mayo VEC in the first place.
Speaking from the campaign trail in Tipperary, John Carty said that he was mid-way through a gruelling campaign which had seen him cover counties from Donegal to Louth as part of his bid to get elected. He was quick to state that he is focusing entirely on getting elected and is not depending on a possible safe-passage nomination from Bertie Ahern as many people are predicting.
Dr Mark Garavan said that his campaign was much less intense than those seeking election to the panels but that he was facing stiff competition for one of only three seats.
The only ‘outside candidate’ in Mayo, Tom Collins, spoke to this newspaper ahead of an appearance on Questions and Answers last night (Monday) and compared the competition for a seat on his panel to an open horse race.
Paddy Burke, who has served as a senator since 1993 and was Enda Kenny’s election agent in the recent general election, is highly favoured to retain his seat on the Agricultural Panel.
Michelle Mulherin was unavailable for comment yesterday but is expected to fare reasonably well in the election after her impressive tally of almost 5,500 first preference votes in the General Election saw her star rise considerably among her party and Council colleagues.
