Cubbard’s Facebook strip tease game is a turn-off for voters

For the past year, the choice facing Galway City Councillor Mike Cubbard was pee or get off the pot. At long last, he’s chosen the former, and has officially declared his intention to run for a Dáil seat.

Once touted as a dark horse, it took him long enough to make up his mind.

The bould Mike was busy teasing his Facebook followers with suggestive updates about his possible intentions of running for a Dáil seat or not. But with every passing day it appeared unlikely the Westside-based Independent would go. The election is in March at the latest, and unless he got his canvassers into gear sharpish, then he’d do worse than the 850 or so votes her garnered in the 2011 general election when he was eliminated after the first count.

His social media postings about the matter were getting a bit tiring. At first it was mildly interesting. Then it became a bit narcissistic. Until it became just plain embarrassing, as Mike fished for compliments to massage his ego under a pretence of him not yet really knowing whether he should run or not.

His supporters usually reply with some version of “You’d make a great TD” and “you have my vote”, which is all well and good as a confidence boost for beleaguered Mike, but not much good to anyone until he declared his intentions.

Heck, needy-Mike even had an opinion poll up this week, where he asked his Facebook friends “Will you vote for me in the general election?” The insecurity of the man must be something rotten.

Everyone enjoys a bit of a tease, but like the scantily-clad stripper swinging from a pole in a dimly-lit nightclub, there comes a point where the titillation is not enough and they really just need to get their kit off or else get off the pole and let somebody else swing from it.

If he’d left it any longer to officially declare his intentions, the election would be over and the voters would have already left the strip joint with their five favourite G-stringed TDs.

Mike has now finally got his kit off. You, dear voters, have been warned.

Dark horses

We know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking the last thing Dáil Éireann needs among its ranks is another teacher looking for a career change.

But – whisper it – that might be on the cards.

Sitting Fine Gael TD Brian Walsh’s decision to leave the political stage in Galway West leaves an enormous vacuum in the city.

Brianeen gobbled up about 5,500 first preference votes in 2011 and was elected on the 12th count.

That’s a lot of number ones that will now need to find a new home. It’s fair to say they’ll go everywhere, but some are in line to benefit more than others.

FG’s Seán Kyne and John O’Mahony will obviously take a few of them. Senator Fidelma Healy Eames due to geography, and her being at one with Brianeen on abortion, must be confident of persuading a few hundred of his supporters to ‘give her a stroke’.

Fellow Government backbencher, Derek Nolan of Labour, will also take a few of the pro-Coalition votes among Brianeen’s supporters. Heck, now Mike Cubbard is off the fence, he might take a chunk of them, too.

It’ll do no harm to any of the other candidates but the two who stand to gain most are teachers: Hildegarde Naughton and John Connolly.

Fine Gael Senator Hildegarde Naughton is now effectively the party’s lone candidate in the city, and if she can’t capitalise on Brianeen’s exit, which is effectively an open goal, and make the Dáil breakthrough in this election, then she probably never will.

Former Fianna Fáil Galway City Councillor, Dev Óg’s running mate, John Connolly, is ideally placed to win back the FF-support that ‘lent’ their vote to FG, and in particular Walsh, during the last campaign. Two FF seats is unlikely but Brianeen has made that more of a possibility. If either Hildegarde or John does make it, won’t somebody please think about the children?

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.