Brian Cowen gives party pal a Seanad seat

Ousted TD gets seat – but just for a few weeks until Seanad election.

OUTGOING TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has announced that he is appointing Darragh O’Brien to the Seanad.

O’Brien, who lost his TD seat in Dublin North in the general election, is Cowen’s nomination to replace Ciaran Cannon who has been elected as TD in Galway East. Cannon, former leader of the Progressive Democrats, joined Fine Gael in 2009 on the day he resigned leadership of the PDs and the party disbanded.

O’Brien, 36, from Malahide, will sit in the Seanad until the elections in April, at which time he can contest them or leave the seat. He had been selected as Fianna Fail’s spokesperson for Sport by Micheál Martin at the start of February.

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