Fine Gael call in the experts to sort out the Galway West and East schemozzle

Professor Michael Marsh has really put the spotlight on the dilemma for Labour in Galway West in the run up to the General Election – for, if they follow Marsh’s advice, they will definitely put up a second candidate with sitting TD Michael D. Higgins in a bid to capitalise on their popularity.

Meanwhile, in both East and West Galway constituencies, Fine Gael have brought in their own ‘wise men’ in special Strategy Committees which have been set up to sort out the schemomzzle over who should – and should not – be on the tickets, and how many candidates FG should run.

The FG difficulty in Galway East – where the Dail seats are divided between two Fine Gael (Paul Connaughton and Ulick Burke) and two Fianna Fail (Michael Kitt and Noel Treacy) – is that FG have up to six potential candidates offering, four of them who stood in 2007 when Fine Gael gained a seat.

The ticket in 2007 was Paul Connaughton, Ulick Burke, Councillor Tom McHugh and Dr. John Barton, but, in the meantime, FG have picked up another member of the Leinster House ‘club’ in the shape of Senator Ciaran Cannon (formerly of the PDs).

Cannon wants to run – and there is word that in the deal to join FG, he was promised a spot on the ticket.

The complications don’t end there. For, there is speculation that Dr. Barton (4,900 first preferences last time out), may not run, and, if he doesn’t, then Councillor Michael Mullins (Ballinasloe) has said he will have to carefully consider whether he should run.

This is because Ballinasloe was one of the key areas which swung a second seat for FG in 2007, when the influence of FF Dail Deputy Joe Callanan was wiped out by Dr. Barton. In recent months, Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe has become a major ongoing issue in the constituency because of fears that it might be downgraded. It’s the reason that FG must consider Ballinasloe very carefully indeed.

The discussion has been back and forth for months and no real progress was being made on any finality, so a Strategy Committee has been set up to report in Autumn – it has met informally once, so far, and no chairman has yet been chosen.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.