Big spenders Rabbitte and Rose learn money can’t buy you votes!
Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley
Former Rose of Tralee, Maria Walsh spent over €200,000 during her campaign to become an MEP.
It was the highest spend by any candidate in the 2009 elections to the European Parliament.
Fine Gael pumped money into the campaign of its celebrity candidate, Maria, a daughter of a Leitir Mór woman, who grew up in Shrule on the Galway/Mayo border.
And it paid off, just about. The party took a second seat in the constituency, with sitting MEP Mairead McGuinness – now a Commissioner, thanks to ‘Golfgate’ in Clifden – topping the poll and comfortably retaining her seat.
Mairead spent €60,000 on her re-election, just over a quarter of her running-mate’s cost, and the veteran polled more than twice the first preferences of the political newbie.
Both were reimbursed €38,092, which is refunded to candidates who are elected, or who are not elected but get one quarter of the quota on the first count.
Spare a thought for Galway East TD Anne Rabbitte, who spent a whopping €106,000 on her unsuccessful election campaign. The only consolation was that with 30,000 votes after the first count, Anne just about reached a quarter of the quota, and got her €38,092 deposit back.
Brendan Smith, her Fianna Fáil colleague was also unsuccessful. Smith spent a massive €195,000, which backs up claims from the Rabbitte camp that party headquarters were favouring him over her.
That’s an FF outlay of more than €300,000 and not a seat between the pair of them. The post-mortem must’ve been painful.
Sinn Féin’s Matt Carty, who was elected and then successfully ran for a Dáil seat, spent just shy of €130,000 on his Euro campaign.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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