Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley

Presidential hopefuls looking for nominations from Galway City Council and Galway County Council needn’t even bother asking Fine Gael.

The party’s four city councillors – Frank Fahy, Eddie Hoare, Clodagh Higgins and Shane Forde – have agreed they will not support anyone other than their party’s own candidate.

Not only will they not vote for non-party candidates who seek nominations to get on the ballot paper, they will actively vote against them.

The councillors said they agreed this among themselves, in consultation with their supporters. They have insisted that they were not ‘whipped’ or instructed by party headquarters to block candidates other than their own.

The quartet will still question candidates who come to make their pitch in City Hall in the coming weeks. And they will use their speaking time to ‘big up’ the Fine Gael candidate, most likely former Minister Heather Humphreys. But they will vote against supporting the nomination of any other challengers.

“Our position is we have our own candidate, and we will be supporting her and no-one else,” confirmed Councillor Clodagh Higgins, the Fine Gael leader at City Hall.

That was before Mairead McGuinness pulled out for health reasons, but the position has not changed.

Jimmy McClearn, Fine Gael leader on Galway County Council, already confirmed that the party’s county councillors will actively block candidates seeking nominations from Galway County Council to run for President in the autumn election to replace Michael D Higgins.

“We will not support any candidate; we will vote against them,” he said last month.

This was also before McGuinness exited the race, but McClearn’s position hasn’t changed – county councillors will back the FG candidate only.

Presidential candidates need nominations from 20 TDs and Senators, or nominations from four local authorities to get on the ballot paper.

Fine Gael has 14 out of 39 councillors on Galway County Council and this decision narrows the scope for non-party candidates to get an endorsement from that local authority.

Fine Gael has just four of the 18 city councillors, and so that still means Galway City Council remains very much ‘in play’ for Áras candidates seeking nominations.

The party has already been criticised for being ‘undemocratic’, and not allowing candidates to get on the ballot paper and let the public decide. But Fine Gael has never won a Presidential election, and they’re going to do everything to change that this time.

Pictured: Three of Fine Gael’s Galway City Councillors – Frank Fahy, Clodagh Higgins and Shane Forde – pictured here in robes, with Senator Seán Kyne, at the National Day of Commemoration earlier this year, plan to vote against any non-party candidates who come before Galway City Council seeking a nomination to get on the Presidential Election ballot paper. Missing from photo is Eddie Hoare, who is also backing the Fine Gael candidate only.