TWO FIANNA FÁIL Ministers have been selected to contest Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown in the upcoming general election – despite serious fears that it may lead to the loss of both seats.
Last night, the Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism Mary Hanafin and the Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews were both selected to run at a constituency convention, the Irish Times reports.
Hanafin and Andrews were both elected in 2007 when the constituency consisted of five seats, however due to boundary revisions it now consists of just four. The drastic fall in public support in Fianna Fáil means it is not certain whether either minister will be re-elected, and unlikely that both will be. The party has put pressure on the ministers to consider moving to the Dublin South constituency, which doesn’t have a sitting Fianna Fáil TD as a candidate but both have resisted the suggestion.
A long-time party activist in Dún Laoghaire told the Irish Times: “We now have a nightmare scenario where we could lose both seats in Dún Laoghaire… and we could end up with none in Dublin South either as we do not have an outgoing TD.”
Speaking ahead of the consistency meeting last night, Hanafin said that Fianna Fáil faced a “difficult” time in the forthcoming election. “When you are reduced to four seats at a difficult time for Fianna Fail, it undoubtedly makes it very, very challenging,” she said, “But I’m up for it.”
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