Fine Gael look set to pin their hopes on Ardara based Cllr. Terence Slowey in their bid to retain a Dail seat in the Donegal South-West constituency at the next general election.
On Wednesday, Deputy Dinny McGinley announced that he will not be standing next time.
The news came as a surprise to many people, especially as McGinley has been very vocal on a number of issues in recent weeks.
Source: Letterkenny Post
Best wishes to Dinny McGinley on his retirement. I’ve met Dinny a number of times at events across the County, and have always found him to be a first-class public representative and a genuine gentleman. He’s also been quite the thorn in the side of Fianna Fail during the term of this Government!
This all leads to make the situation in Donegal South West very interesting. Fine Gael meet on Sunday (June 11th) to select their candidates. Much talk will focus on how this impacts on Sinn Fein’s Pearse Doherty, and who Fine Gael will put up to attempt to retain their seat. Fine Gael have yet to decide on whether they will run one or two candidates in Donegal SW, a decision which will certainly impact on the race.
Most speculation points to Cllr Terence Slowey taking the nomination. Slowey is indeed very popular, and is another very genuine person. I would wish him every success. If Fine Gael look to run two candidates, that opens the interesting prospect of a young candidate, with (County) Councillor Barry O’Neill and (Town) Councillor Brendan Travers both seeking the nomination. These Councillors, both in their early twenties, both from Ballyshannon and both elected in 2004, have performed strongly in polls to date.
From this distance, it would seem that O’Neill has the edge. But I wouldn’t rule out Travers yet; any time you can get a father and son team elected to the same authority, it’s clear you have a hard working team on your hands.
Update: Fine Gael are running one candidate. It’s Terence Slowey, who beat Barry O’Neill, Brendand Travers and David Morrow at the convention last night.