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Updated 1.45pm
FINE GAEL WILL KICK-START its general election preparations later this week with the first of 40 selection conventions set to take place in Dublin on Thursday night.
While the other major parties have already begun selecting candidates in recent weeks, Fine Gael has been waiting for its internal election strategy committee, headed by justice minister Frances Fitzgerald, to finish assessing how many candidates should be run in each constituency.
Fitzgerald’s own constituency of Dublin Mid-West will be the first to formally pick its candidates this Thursday when the minister and her fellow incumbent Derek Keating are selected by local members.
While dates have been set for a number of other selection conventions, more contentious constituencies are unlikely to select candidates until later this year.
The big problem for Fine Gael will be gender quotas.
With the party set to run as many as 90 candidates across the country, a third of these will need to be female in order to avoid fines. In some cases this could mean adding female candidates to tickets even if they have little hope of being elected just to ensure the party does not lose State funding.
One area where that won’t be a problem is Meath East. Incumbent TDs Regina Doherty and Helen McEntee, who took her late father Shane’s seat in a by-election two years ago, are likely to be selected at a convention in Kells on Sunday, 29 March.
But it’s in Dublin where the internal battles could get really interesting with up to five potentially contentious selection conventions delayed and unlikely to take place until after the summer, TheJournal.ie understands.
In addition to Dublin Mid-West, four selection conventions in the capital have been scheduled for April with another in May.
These include Dublin West on 13 April where Senator Catherine Noone is set to be added to the ticket alongside Health Minister Leo Varadkar.
In Dublin Bay South, which holds its convention on 16 April, incumbent TD Eoghan Murphy will be selected with councillor Kate O’Connell likely to join him on the ticket. Her council colleague Kieran Binchy is also set to contest the convention but is unlikely to be selected with sources indicating he could withdraw on the night.
However, Binchy told us this afternoon that he intends to “fight to the end to be on that ticket”.
Dublin Central will select incumbent TD and Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe at a convention on 27 April. He faces an uphill battle to retain the party’s seat in a redrawn constituency that has lost a number of Fine Gael-friendly areas.
Dublin Bay North will select Jobs Minister Richard Bruton on 30 April with failed local election candidate Stephanie Regan and former lord mayor Naoise Ó Muirí also vying for a spot on the Fine Gael ticket.
Dublin South-West is scheduled to hold its selection convention on 28 May with failed by-election candidate, Senator Cait Keane, along with local councillors Colm Brophy, who is an ally of former TD Brian Hayes, and Anne-Marie Dermody also vying for selection.
Dates have not been set for Dublin Fingal, Dún Laoghaire, Dublin North West, Dublin Rathdown and Dublin South-Central.
Incumbent TDs James Reilly and Alan Farrell are likely to be selected in Dublin Fingal although many believe there is realistically only one Fine Gael seat in the constituency.
Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett is automatically re-elected in Dún Laoghaire which means incumbent Fine Gael TD Mary Mitchell-O’Connor will have a running mate, most likely councillors Maria Bailey or Barry Ward.
In Dublin North-West the highly-rated councillor Noel Rock is certain to be picked. The party could add a female running mate to boost their quota with Aoibhinn Tormey, the daughter of Rock’s former rival Bill Tormey, seen as a possible candidate.
It’s unclear whether incumbent TD Catherine Byrne will run for re-election in Dublin South-Central, which, from a Fine Gael point of view, has suffered from the loss of Terenure into Dublin Bay South.
However the real intrigue is in the capital’s constituency of death, Dublin Rathdown (formerly Dublin South), which has gone from five to three seats.
Fine Gael incumbents Alan Shatter and Olivia Mitchell have both indicated publicly that they want to run again, but also vying for spots on what’s likely to be a two candidate ticket are councillors Neale Richmond and Josepha Madigan.
Four into two doesn’t go so this could be a particularly feisty selection convention, whenever it does eventually take place.
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These friendlies mean nothing.
@Sun Rise: no such thing as a friendly in rugby.. and far as I know these test matches affect world rankings which obviously had a knock on effect..
@Stiles: yes they do, but unfortunately our ranking has justified some performances. Next week will be interesting though.
I was only glancing at today’s game but that lad Prendergast had an excellent day.
@Paul O’Mahoney: * hasn’t
@Paul O’Mahoney:
Pendergast good but not excellent .
@Sun Rise: Not this nonsense again. zzzzzzzz.
@Sun Rise: shows how little you know ! They mean a lot for the next W.C
@Sun Rise: jog on, soccer boy!
@Jb Walshe: ironically our worst performance in the last 4 world cups was when we achieved a top 4 seeding for the pool draw.
@Sun Rise: obviously not a rugby fan – if you were you’d know that’s tihsllub. Every game is important!!! Whether these particular games affect this ranking or that pool is irrelevant it’s all about a bigger picture…
@Jb Walshe: only rugby fans would understand how correct you are. Tro. lls only look for thumbs up
@brian o’leary: that’s certainly true Brian and we had a bit of bad luck thrown in the mix also,between the draw,some decisions we made,and lacking manpower on the bench. That’s the way it goes I suppose but we live in hope and we will keep supporting our team
@Jb Walshe: yes keep plugging away, plan A now is to achieve a top 6 seeding, hope the seedings work this time, get a little luck with the draw, and most importantly, avoid SA and NZ until after the Quarters, if we get that far.
@Sun Rise: mean nothing to you.
@Lulu: As ai said I was only glancing but I’m happy with my view…..as his dynamic was different, yes a few errors and I’m saying this as a Munster supporter.
@Stiles: when it matters in world cups when it reay matter ireland bottle, all the talk ireland no 1 team ranking, nobody cares
@Sun Rise: 1st time?
@Thomas Meaney: rugby is shite
@Paul O’Mahoney: yes Predergast I think is our best 10…. some bad decisions though…. should maybe have passed a little more than some of the kicks…. but I think he will only keep improving… good win today.
@Sun Rise: Cool story
@Lulu: that complement coming from a munster head, he must have played excellent!!!
Can all the Crowley cult members please sit down now and stop screeching. Prendergast is the man for the 10 jersey and it’s tough luck to you. Crowley had his chance against New Zealand and Argentina and he didn’t cut it. He lost focus after 50 minutes and started kicking and passing aimlessly. We got actually got a performance from our 10 today where he stayed in the match for the full duration and worked his magic. Prendergast was exceptional both in his decision making and in his general vision and the players all looked so much better playing off a level-headed and confident fly-half. Crowley was nothing more than a placeholder for the shirt while a proper heir was developed post Sexton and it’s time for him to put back on the bench where he belongs.
@Frank O’Hara: jaysus Frank, I haven’t seen a player this hyped since Jordan Larmor? I thought he did very well, apart from kicking the ball dead… twice, getting a yellow that was lucky not be red, and getting caught in possession. Bolter for the lions tour maybe?
@Frank O’Hara:
Hahaha …. Good man Frank O’Haha !
@Frank O’Hara: muppet
@Frank O’Hara: put down the creamy pints and take a breath…
@brian o’leary: How did he “caught in possession?” His passing was on the money every time and the speed of his distribution which enabled the ball to get out to the wings was nothing short of phenomenal. The yellow card was a joke. Turning your back and lightly bumping into someone isn’t even a penalty, although the referee had a shocker in terms of being biased against Ireland from the get-go so I wasn’t surprised that she gave him a card. It’s a sign that rugby has gone too soft. In any case, look at how Ireland performed as a team. Prendergast had them absolutely humming. Everything was sticking and all the backline moves were coming off. Crowley offered none of that. I wouldn’t say he’s a Lions bolter just yet. My money is on Finn Russell, Owen Farrell and Fin Smith taking the slots.
@Stiles: Take off your red-tinted glasses and take a breath.
@Frank O’Hara: he was caught at one stage passing to the left, when a try was on, took too long and was tackled, possession turned over?re yellow, contact with the head, upright, no attempt to rap and make a legal tackle, clear sight and no late change of direction or height? Made freddy Stewart look like gerry conlon?
I like Sam BTW, how could you not, but let’s remain clam here .
@Frank O’Hara: jayzus it was Fiji , his granny would have done ok against Fiji ffs
@Frank O’Hara: Very easy to look good at 10 against that opposition. You need to calm down a bit.
@brian o’leary: Come on mate, that yellow card was a terrible decision and you know it. Prendergast turned his back on the Fijian player to see where the ball went from the grubber through and gently bumped against him. The Fijian player then engaged in a series of dramatics like a footballer and Holly Davidson bought it because she doesn’t seem to have a clue about the rules. It wasn’t even a penalty. Do you not agree though from a purely objective observation, the Irish attack was humming in a more sleek and cohesive manner? Do you not think that we actually got a full 80 minute performance off the Irish attack for the first time since the France match in the Six Nations earlier this year?
@Frank O’Hara: I know the rules, contact with the head, upright, no attempt to make a legal tackle, no late change of direction or lowering of height by the tackled player?
It was a good performance, yes, but against a tear 2 nation, I’m going to remain clam
@brian o’leary: clam yes, you’re being very clam.
@Frank O’Hara: that is the most extraordinarily green-tinted description of Prendergast’s card. He turn e to see where the ball was going? He very clearly stepped across to make contact with the Fijian player. It was a stupid gesture, a deliberate piece of foul play. Not dangerous enough to be a red, but a definite yellow
@Frank O’Hara: Calm down there a bit. They are both very good players with more to learn
@Frank O’Hara: He was lucky to see the game out really. Has a while to go yet, Crowley still ahead of the pack for now, rugby is a slower burn than football (assuming thats your prefer sport). Always love the naive ‘general public’ take we get from the one article on the Journal. Never see you on the 42 Frank? Be time fan eh?
Some really good stuff but also some really dreadful stuff!
Max 16 countries in the world play top class rugby, build ireland up the easier they fall, bottlers of world cups
@burrito girl: I’d say if there was a world cup for knitting, you’d win in hands down girly…
@burrito girl: that’s better than football then. Max 7 countries play top class stuff, the rest are just there to pretend it’s a contest.
@burrito girl: stick to the gaa
Ref gifted one
Ah, the once mighty Fifi have fallen! Yawn…
Micky mouse game, make the rules up as the go along. Only 10 rugby clubs in Fiji
sublime reasoning shown by true fans here, lol
I turned this rubbish off after 20 mins
have your say