Lobbying for Mayo ministers begins

WITH Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael expected to go back into government together, the lobbying for a Mayo senior minister has already begun in each party.

The results of Friday’s general election saw the three sitting TDs, Sinn Féin’s Rose Conway-Walsh, Fianna Fáil’s Dara Calleary and Alan Dillon of Fine Gael returned to the Dáil, joined by two newcomers Keira Keogh of Fine Gael and Aontú’s Paul Lawless.

Fianna Fáil will be the largest party in the next Dáil with 48 seats, followed by Sinn Féin on 39 and Fine Gael on 38.

Tipped

The two senior government TDs Dara Calleary and Alan Dillon have both been tipped for senior ministry having both served as Ministers of State in the previous coalition government.

Calleary briefly held the post of Minister for Agriculture before he resigned following the Golfgate controversy in 2020. Speaking to The Mayo News following his election on Sunday he said he hopes to be at the cabinet table when the new government is formed.

“I have worked hard as a minister in the Department of Enterprise and had the honour of sitting at the cabinet table since June, and I want to stay there and lead my own department,” said Calleary, who was elected for the fifth time.

Alan Dillon is the current Minister of State in the Department of Housing and former Fine Gael Minister Michael Ring believes Simon Harris should reward the party in Mayo for electing two TDs in the constituency.

“I am saying this loud and clear to Simon Harris. Mayo has been very good to Fine Gael and to every election over the last 30 years. We have delivered two or three seats in every election and I believe Simon Harris has to look at the two TDs that are going to be elected in Mayo and I expect the two to be ministers. Not TDs who run in single constituencies and have no competition and no hope of winning a second seat.

“You have to reward success. We have two capable people here [Dillon and Keogh] and I think the two of them should be ministers and I mean that loud and clear. It is alright for fellas and women going in constituencies that have nobody else with them. Any constituency that brings in someone with them has to be looked at and rewarded,” he said.

Exclusion politics

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh said that her party has not given up on the prospect of forming a government, despite Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael both stating that they will not speak to her party.

^{Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh says it is 'immature' to exclude Sinn Féin from government talks (Pic: Conor McKeown)}

She described the two parties’ refusal to talk to Sinn Féin as ‘a bit immature’. “It is not about me or the other Sinn Féin candidates,” she said, “it is about the people who want change, and the huge mandate I have got in Mayo for the people. That needs to be respected by the other parties as well. We need to focus on making a real difference in people’s lives and addressing the very serious issues that are facing people.

“I would urge the other TDs who are elected in Mayo to consider the number of people who wanted change and voted for a Sinn Féín candidate. I do not believe in this exclusion politics in that we are not going to speak to this one or that one. It has to be a programme for government and our focus at this point in time is having a programme for government that will make a real difference in people’s lives and for me it is about making a real difference in people’s lives across Mayo.”

Minister Calleary praised the role played by party leader Micheál Martin during the campaign in helping Fianna Fáil win the most seats and hopes a new government will be in place a few weeks into the new year.

“I think he had a super campaign and I want to thank all of our team at party headquarters. The Tainaiste will lay out our approach. He made it clear if we are the lead party we want the process to get under way quickly and have the Government in place by the third week in January. I think that is his target and achievable and I will be getting involved either way. If I am doing formation talks there are a lot of issues in Mayo which people want to be in the next programme for government,” he said.

Rotating Taoiseach

Former Minister for Community and Rural Development Michael Ring said that Fine Gael should not go into a coalition with Fianna Fáil unless there is a rotating Taoiseach.

“It will be a rotating Taoiseach otherwise I don’t think Fine Gael should go in. We need a rotating Taoiseach, and that will be a decision for whoever comes first or second,” he said.

Ring also defended the performance of the party nationally saying that the party lost 18 TDs before the election was called. However, he said new younger TDs like Keira Keogh will ensure it has a bright future.

“I think FF and FG in the last government was a very good government. People can give out and say what they like but people have voted for the same government again. If you look at Fine Gael it has been a tremendous result. The national media are not looking at this. We went with 18 TDs leaving the pitch.

“Imagine if 18 of the Mayo panel leave the pitch this year and you expect them to win the All Ireland next year or a Connacht Championship. We went away without 18 and are going to come back with more than we went out with. That is a wonderful success.

“The most wonderful thing about that is we have some fine young qualified people who will be there for the next 20 years. We had a generation [of TDs] who moved this time but we moved to a younger generation, so there is a bright future for Fine Gael.”