*Fine Gael are to begin plotting their campaign for the next General Election.
FINE GAEL will strongly target winning back the Dáil seat it lost in the Clare constituency three years ago, sitting TD Joe Carey (FG) has said.
At the 2020 General Election, then Junior Minister Pat Breen (FG) lost his seat in Dáil Éireann as did Timmy Dooley (FF), the duo serving as the biggest casualties within the county as Violet-Anne Wynne (IND) then of Sinn Féin, Cathal Crowe (FF) and Michael McNamara (IND) shared success alongside Carey.
Former Minister for Communications, Denis Naughten (IND) and ex Junior Minister Brendan Griffin (FG) have in the past fortnight announced they will not be contesting the next General Election.
While no date has been set for this election, anticipation is slowly beginning to build among politicos.
The Clare Echo has previously reported that ex Clare GAA Chairman, Cllr Joe Cooney (FG), former Mayor of Clare, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) and Bunratty farmer Joe Melody are among the names believed to be in the frame to join Carey and Senator Martin Conway (FG) on the ballot paper.
Deputy Carey said the party need to focus on getting the ticket right to come out with two seats in the constituency. “Obviously we lost a seat at the last election, our ambition would be to win that back, I intend to stand myself and return to Dáil Éireann, it won’t be for me to pick the other candidate, I’m sure there will be a lot of activity and interest in it, it’s important we get the ticket right. Nothing will really happen in relation to that until the boundary review is completed, we should know the result of that in the summer this year”.
Strategies will be developed at a national level to determine the amount of candidates per constituency. “We ran three in the last election. I’ve stood in elections where Fine Gael have had four candidates, that’s a matter for the National Executive. There’s plenty of time to consider that and for people to make up their minds on whether they want to run or not, I look forward to all that happening in the time ahead”.
Had he been given a recent Junior Ministry by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (FG) as was tipped to be the case, his profile in the county would have received a timely boost and arguably increased his hopes of re-election. “I’ve never been a Junior Minister before and I’ve jumped four General Election fences and I intend to jump the next fence as well, all I can do is win my seat and I’m determined to do it. I can’t do that without people’s support and without working for the people of Clare, that is the beauty of democracy it is the people who they elect and I look forward to engaging with people on the issues in an election campaign whenever that happens”.
Political sources have told The Clare Echo that the job of a TD has been hindered by the public reverting to them on very local matters such as potholes instead of speaking with their county councillor.
Clarecastle native Carey noted the importance of dealing with local matters. “I work with our eight county councillors, I’ve regular contact with them, I work on various issues, I don’t think you can ignore the general public whether they come to you with a small issue, a big issue, a community issue or a national issue, I listen to them and work with them to try resolve whatever that issue is, every issue that they have is important”.
“I’d ask a county councillor to take up an issue depending on what it is, it’s important that it is responded to and acted on and that every effort is made to resolve it. People just want to talk to a TD as well and I respect that, it is the nature of our democracy that we are very close to people as politicians, you have to listen to their concerns and help them”.
His main focus will be the General Election but the 2024 local elections are also on the mind of the father of two. “The electoral areas are staying the same for the local elections so there is a bit of certainty around that, there is interest, we had a few near-misses in a few different electoral areas so I’m hopeful Fine Gael can add additional councillors, we’ve eight very good hard-working councillors across the county and we’d hope to be able to up the numbers of councillors in the Council Chamber come the next election in May 2024. There will be a lot of work put into that to make sure Fine Gael maximises its representation on Clare County Council. Young people are key to that, we’ve a Young Fine Gael organisation in Clare, every councillor, TD or Senator has young people in their team working for them at a time, we’ve a fairly good cross-section of people in Fine Gael in the county”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe (FG) felt the party was in a strong position in the county. “I already feel that we’re very healthy and I hope to see that again this evening, I’m very hopeful my friend Joe Carey can make a full recovery, he is a man I think the world of, I’m greatly saddened that he is not well. Due to the effort of people like him I believe our party is in a good position in Clare but we always want to do better, for so long we’ve always had two seats here, we’re delighted we have Joe but we want to support Joe and our councillors in doing an even better job”.
