Turmoil in Fine Gael over Limerick mayoral election

FINE Gael in Limerick is in turmoil after three of its candidates hoping to contest the mayoral election have withdrawn in anger at the process - with one accusing party headquarters of “ineptitude of the highest order”.

With just 11 weeks to go until Limerick people go to the polls to elect a mayor for the first time, Fine Gael has yet to formally select a candidate.

Four councillors had expressed an interest in securing the party nomination.

But now three of them - councillors Adam Teskey, John Sheahan and Liam Galvin - have all pulled out of the process.

It leaves Cllr Daniel Butler as the only candidate whose name remains in the mix - but he has told the Leader he doesn't know yet if he will run.

“I have a lot of considerations as to whether I rule myself in or out. It’s not as simple for me. I’m relatively young, I have a full-time job, a mortgage and a young family. There’s a lot for me to think about and it’s not as straight forward a decision as it may be for other members of the party,” he said.

Cllr Adam Teskey, who is the leader of the Adare-Rathkeale district, has accused Fine Gael headquarters of “ineptitude of the highest order” around the selection.

Abbeyfeale-based Cllr Liam Galvin added: “Michael Collins would turn in his grave if we couldn’t put a leader forward for Limerick not to mind the country. It’s a bad indictment on Fine Gael and I’m disgusted over it.”

They’ve argued there is not enough time to effectively campaign for the role, while at the same time, try to get re-elected to their respective council seats, with Cllr Teskey saying: “I will not turn my back on my constituents in Rathkeale and Adare.

“Fine Gael emailed everyone promising a mayoral candidate by November 2023. It's now after St Patrick’s Day and nobody is in place,” he added.

The fact that the party secured the highest share of the vote at the 2019 local election in Limerick, and it is the architects of the legislation which has created the role of a directly elected mayor has sharpened local criticism of the party.

Cllr Teskey said he is “furious” with the party’s hierarchy, and added: “They’ve taken their eye off the ball. It’s farcical.”

Cllr Galvin said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and general secretary John Carroll “need to be held to account”.

Cllr Sheahan, the party’s council leader added: “I think the party could have been more proactive. I’m disappointed the heavy hitters in the party including the Taoiseach did not have a more hands-on role. We should be seen as frontrunners rather then laggards.” Fine Gael did not return a request for comment from the Leader.

Separately, Cllr Galvin suggested Fine Gael bosses would be “quite happy” to support local businesswoman Helen O’Donnell in her bid for the mayoralty, given her history in the party.

The local Tidy Towns chairwoman launched her campaign as a non-party candidate on Monday of last week.

But, only the night before, she had seconded Sean Kelly’s nomination to re-run for the European Parliament at a convention in Clonmel.

Only after she had done this, she tendered her resignation from the party which her late husband Tom served in government, and as an MEP for.

There has been a backlash locally in Fine Gael circles, with Cllr Galvin saying: “She went out of a Sunday evening as a Fine Gael member and on Monday morning, she was an Independent. To me that doesn’t wash.”

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Cllr Teskey reflected these comments.

Ms O’Donnell said Mr Kelly is a friend of hers and had asked her weeks ago to second his nomination. She said she had told him she was planning to run as a “community candidate” in the mayoral contest, and the MEP was happy for her to proceed.

She added she believes the role of executive mayor should be above party politics.

Cllr Sheahan said rumours around Limerick that the popular senior hurling boss John Kiely would possibly join the general mayoral race also had a bearing on other candidates not going forward. Limerick will elect a mayor on Friday, June 7, the same day as the local election.

This, says Cllr Sheahan, has “disenfranchised” members putting their own names forward, amid the risk that placing too much of a focus on the mayoralty could derail chances of re-election to the local authority.