FINE GAEL SENATOR Maura Hopkins has announced she is withdrawing from the upcoming general election ticket for Roscommon-Galway.

An election date has yet to be set but rumours are abound that sometime in early February – and not April, as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said last month – could be the agreed date to send the country to the polls. 

Hopkins has today announced that she, however, will not contest the next general election as her “personal circumstances have changed in recent weeks”. 

“Over the Christmas period, I have taken time to consider my position as a Fine Gael Candidate for Roscommon-Galway,” she said. 

“I am very aware of the huge demands and sacrifices involved in running an effective and successful campaign to win a Dáil seat. All indications suggest that a general election will take place over the next number of months. It had been my full intention to contest the election.

“However, my personal circumstances have changed in recent weeks.  As a new mother and as a female public representative based in a rural constituency, I have come to the conclusion that it would not be possible to balance the responsibilities and demands of my personal and professional life. 

“Therefore, I am withdrawing my name as a Fine Gael Candidate for Roscommon-Galway constituency.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar thanked his party colleague for her service. 

In a statement this evening, he said: “Senator Hopkins contacted me in recent days to inform me that she would not be going forward in the next general election.”

“She is the mother of a four-week-old daughter and has decided to put her young family ahead of public life. While I am sorry to lose her from the ticket, I fully understand and respect her decision.”

Hopkins held a seat on Roscommon County Council from 2014 to 2016 before taking a seat in the Seanad in 2016.

She said she hopes to remain involved in Fine Gael politics in the future and wished councillor Aisling Dolan well in her bid for a Dáil seat on behalf of the party.