Fine Gael choose Seán Kyne to contest Galway West by-election
Fine Gael senator Seán Kyne has been selected by the party to contest the upcoming by-election in Galway West.It follows a selection convention held in Galway on Sunday afternoon. Mr Kyne was one of three Fine Gael candidates who expressed interest in contesting the by-election to fill the seat vacated by President Catherine Connolly.Mr Kyne has been a TD, a Minister of State, the Government Chief Whip and, most recently, Leader of the Seanad.“I am delighted to be selected by the party members in Galway West to contest the forthcoming by-election on behalf of Fine Gael,” Mr Kyne said.“I look forward to a positive campaign, meeting voters across the constituency and continuing to use my experience to help people and to represent Galway in Dáil Éireann.Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris congratulated Mr Kyne on his selection, calling him “a hard-working, community-driven candidate with a track record of public service”.Galway councillor Eddie Hoare pulled out of the race on Sunday afternoon as the selection convention got underway. The former president of Young Fine Gael, Eoghan Gallagher, also contested the election.Mr Kyne will join Niall Murphy of the Green Party, Mide Nic Fhionnlaoich of the Social Democrats, Aontú’s Orla Nugent, Labour’s Helen Ogbu, Noel Thomas of Independent Ireland, and independent candidates Thomas Welby and Sheila Garrity on the ballot paper.Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin are also expected to field candidates in the by-election, which is expected to be held in May.Elsewhere, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald confirmed a selection convention to pick the party’s candidate for the Dublin Central by-election will be held on Wednesday.This election, which was caused by former Fine Gael minister Paschal Donohoe’s decision to move to the World Bank in Washington DC, will be held on the same date as the Galway West vote.Either Sinn Féin councillor Janice Boylan and Gillian Sheratt, the mother of the late scoliosis patient Harvey Morrison-Sheratt, will represent the party.Other confirmed candidates include Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats, Janet Horner of the Green Party, People Before Profit’s Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, and Ian Noel Smyth of Aontú. Several independent candidates, including Gerard ‘The Monk’ Hutch and Malachy Steenson, have also stated that they will run.Fine Gael is expected to run current Dublin Lord Mayor Ray McAdam, while John Stephens may get the Fianna Fáil nomination following the decision of Senator Mary Fitzpatrick not to put her name forward for selection. Labour is also expected to yield a candidate but does not currently have any councillors in the area.
Louise Burne is Political Correspondant
