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BOTH FIANNA FÁIL and Sinn Féin will this evening hold official selection conventions for the forthcoming Meath East by-election. The vacancy in the constituency arose following the death of Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee in December.
A by-election must be held within six months of a position becoming vacant and a date is expected to be announced this week as parties choose their candidates.
Fianna Fáil is expected to nominate Senator Thomas Byrne, who was a TD in the constituency between 2007 and 2011. The party’s convention will be held at the Ashbourne House Hotel at 8pm with leader Micheál Martin in attendance.
Sinn Féin has already announced it will put Darren O’Rourke forward at its convention in the Headford Hotel in Kells at 7.30pm. Deputy leader Mary-Lou McDonald will address the meeting. O’Rourke currently works as PA to the party’s health spokesperson Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin.
Speculation is centering on McEntee’s daughter Helen as Fine Gael’s candidate and Labour has not yet made any formal move to select one.
The Workers Party will be represented by Seamus McDonagh who ran in Meath West at the last general election and the Green Party expects to nominate Seán Ó Buachalla, who finished last in 2011, as its candidate.
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Smug Ffrs who ruined our nation for the last 15 (in power) and for the next 40 years should not get any votes from the people anybody on the island. The reason that we are all suffering is because of them .T.Byrne is one of the same who walked with Bertie,Cowan and co as we went down the tubes.
& FG/Labour have proved to be a big improvement on FF !!!!
only true blue smug FG/Labour hacks will vote for them this time.
I’m guessing many Meath East voters will vote for an Independent TD this time.
DirectDemocracy.ie Ireland may run a candidate http://www.facebook.com/directdemocracyireland time is of the essence
20 junkies, pick pockets and heroin dealers in Govt. would be an improvement on FF. FG and Lab. are like teenagers selling pot,in comparison to the heroin dealers of FF.
I see nepotism is still alive and well in Fine Gael. No change there then.
I’m pretty sure the people of Meath are fit to decide if its raw nepotism or not.
Dillon:
Irish people have a long record of supporting nepotism at the ballot box.
that’s why parties like FG have a long & shameful record of indulging in it.
Meath East needs an Independent TD who isn’t tied by party-line politics.
I’m sure they said that about Mick Wallace and the rest too. Careful what you wish for.
How about David Hall ? ….didn’t ask him don’t know him but at least he is challenging the system !
There was a great piece about Sen. Thomas Byrne in the Journal letting rip in to a man form Meath and engaging in a series of progressively angrier letters.
If his vote is as big as his ego and self-regard then he’ll have a Saddam Hussein style 99% of the vote.
For me it’s all summed up in the last paragraph of his last response:
“…I am privileged…”
He should get that incorporated in to his family crest.
This was put up before, im wondering is this personal?
500k out of work, as many will have emigrated by the end of this. 10-12 deaths a week from Suicide since his party destroyed this country and he wouldn’t change one thing about what happened.
It is not personal but people of his caliber and type and manner do not belong in politics, not if we are to have a future.
@ Joe_Mahoney:
FG/Labour have proved themselves to be as bad as FF
even worse – they’ve just continued with what FF were doing, despite their promises to do otherwise.
are you a FG hack or a Labour hack, yourself ??
‘Green Party expects to nominate Seán Ó Buachalla, who finished last in 2011, as its candidate’
I missed the midweek polls that must have shown a resurgent green vote
Great to see a possible female candidate for FG.
The party policy on property tax and water charges is still the same, is it not?
Hugely qualified no doubt
Is Gerry Adams not available to parachute into this constituency as well? It’s only marginally further away from the M1 than Louth. He could still tip in now & again on his way home to West Belfast from the Dáil.
check out our taoiseach in the dail…12/12/2012……. a matter of public record …… no wriggle room left now in my opinion….
remember if you buy a stolen car it still belongs to the original owner ! …that is the law and the oil companies and our judges know this precedent as well !
Best bit of shoehorning this week there Dermot.
hello pierce ,
Apologies for my ignorance …but I a not familiar with shoehorning …is it squeezing something into a subject on very shaky grounds of reference …….
If so then here’s my explanation … i am the type of person who believes in the irish constitution and as it is the very basis of this election then the property rights of every individual in the state is an issue for every election !
Thanks for the compliment by the way !
Voters have chance to vote for Seamus McDonagh of The Workers’ Party if they want a real change from the FG/LP/FF self indulgence that exists now.
I reckon Direct Democracy Ireland will be putting someone forward too…
have your say