Fine Gael members in Laois have been told to be ready for a September convention, where they will decide who to run for the party in the next General Election.
Following Charlie Flanagan’s decision to retire from political life and not to contest the next General Election, the Fine Gael party in Laois will select a new candidate, or possibly two.
“Laois Fine Gael are planning to hold a convention for the General Election on September 5,” party members were told in correspondence recently.
“This is subject to national executive approval and no by-election for the Barry Cowen seat.”
Fine Gael members will vote at that convention who to run in the General Election.
A General Election in the autumn or early next year would mean no by-election for Cowen’s seat. As it is, Laois will be back as a three-seat constituency for the next Dáil, as it was in 2016.
Flanagan was first elected a TD in 1987 and though he lost his seat in 2002, he regained it in 2007. In all he contested nine General Elections with his father Oliver J successfully contesting 14, going right back to 1943.
The battle to replace Flanagan on the ticket is likely to be a keen one – with councillors Willie Aird, Conor Bergin, Vivienne Phelan and Barry Walsh all considered to be in contention.
Aird’s Laois County Council career, where he has been a member since 1985, has largely coincided with Flanagan’s time in politics, meaning that opportunities to run for the Dáil were limited – though he did seek the nomination ahead of the 2007 General Election when Flanagan was making his comeback.
Aged in his mid 60s, the Portlaoise-based Aird is certainly the most experienced of the Fine Gael councillors in Laois.
But Conor Bergin (30) from Borris-in-Ossory – though a solicitor in Portlaoise – got the highest number of first preferences in Laois in the recent Local Elections and is well placed too.
Aird and Bergin would appear to be the front-runners but not the only ones.
Barry Walsh from Ballyroan and Vivienne Phelan from Stradbally are also possible contenders and neither ruled out the prospect when speaking in the immediate aftermath of their council success.
It doesn’t appear that John King, Fine Gael’s other councillor in Laois, will be a contender.
Thomasina Connell, who lost her seat in the Portlaoise area in the Local Elections, but contested the 2016 General Election in Laois as Flanagan’s running mate, can’t be discounted either, though losing the council seat was a notable setback.
Fine Gael HQ could decide to run two candidates, as they did in 2016, when Laois was last a three-seater – though they only ran Charlie Flanagan in 2020 when it was Laois-Offaly.
Beyond the General Election, if a sitting councillor is elected to the Dáil, it will open up the process of co-option and selecting a replacement for the council.
Who would Fine Gael and Aird, Bergin, Phelan or Walsh choose as the replacement in that scenario?
That is a whole other story!
SEE ALSO – Independent Ireland to hold public meeting in Portlaoise next week
