McCormack retirement clears way for FG duo to stake their claim to seats

The announcement this week that long serving Fine Gael TD Padraic McCormack is to bow out of politics means the way is now clear for both Senator Fidelma Healy Eames and Cllr Brian Walsh to try and win an elusive two seats for the party in Galway West.

And there is now every possibility that Cllr. Sean Kyne in Moycullen and City Councillor Hildegarde Naughton could be added to the Fine Gael ticket.

Weeks of speculation came to an end early on Tuesday afternoon when Deputy McCormack announced his decision to step down. He had the option of being added to the ticket following his failure to get a nomination at the Galway West selection convention but he decided not to avail of this opportunity.

It is known that party leader Enda Kenny was anxious that Deputy McCormack stand in the New Year general election but the Renmore based TD said that the time had come for him to retire as he believed that the party had the capacity to win two seats in Galway West without him on the ticket.Tributes have been flowing in followi

ng his announcement with the Galway West Fine Gael organisation saying that he had given distinguished service to the party from as far back as 1969. Chairman Enda Howley said: “He has been a wonderful tremendous hardworking servant of the people as a public representative of this constituency”.

Amazingly he has spent 62 and half years serving as a public representative but it must be pointed out that many of those years were duplicated having served on both Galway City Council and Galway County Council.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.