Updated Sunday 28 May at 12pm
Running total:
JUST BEFORE THE third bout of the Fine Gael hustings held in Ballinasloe last night, another party member publicly declared their support – this time for Simon Coveney.
MEP Mairead McGuinness, first vice-president of the European Parliament said that Coveney had the “grit and determination” to succeed, and was backing him in the leadership race.
The final round of the leadership hustings will be held tonight at 8pm.
Before the party’s four rounds of debates which began on Thursday, the momentum seemed to be with social protection minister Leo Varadkar, who has almost double his party colleague’s tally.
But after the Minister for Housing’s fiery performances in the first three rounds, the race seems much closer than it first appeared (if rounds of applause from party members is anything to go by).
The Minister for Social Protection officially launched his campaign last weekend in Dublin, and produced four more confirmed votes (including two ministers) for his leadership-run while he was at it.
The big coup for Varadkar was Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, who described her colleague as “having magic in the way he thinks” at the launch.
Also declaring for Varadkar were Galway TD and Minister of State for Regional Economic Development Michael Ring, Drugs Minister Catherine Byrne, and Senator Joe O’Reilly bringing his total to 46 confirmed votes, still 26 clear of Coveney’s 20.
In reaching and passing the 40 mark Varadkar has arrived at what is seen as the magic number regarding support from within the parliamentary party.
A victory for Coveney now appears to be a mathematical impossibility, given he would need roughly 70% of the votes of the nation’s Fine Gael councillors in order to win, with the Irish Times’ leadership tracker suggesting Varadkar already has more than 30% of those councillors committed to his cause, with 40% undecided.
Varadkar had surged ahead since Enda Kenny stepped down at midnight last Wednesday, gathering the backing of a raft of TDs and senators within days.
Coveney, meanwhile, launched his own campaign on Thursday – but has struggled to gain the support of parliamentary party members to date.
In what has been a relatively tepid campaign thus far, the gloves came off somewhat in Ennis, Co Clare, on Friday with TD Kate O’Connell, a prominent Coveney supporter, labelling those who have opted for Varadkar as “choirboys” who are “boys singing for their supper”, according to a report in the Irish Independent.
At the launch on Saturday, Varadkar declined to comment on the “choirboys” remark.
Fine Gael’s 73 members of the parliamentary party (that’s TDs, Senators and MEPs) will represent 65% of the total leadership vote. The wider membership have 25% of the voting power and councillors have 10%.
With that in mind, here’s a list of parliamentary party members who’ve publicly announced their support for either Varadkar or Coveney.
LEO VARADKAR
TDs
Alan Farrell
Andrew Doyle
Brendan Griffin
Catherine Byrne (Minister for Communities and National Drugs Strategy)
Charlie Flanagan (Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade)
Ciarán Cannon
Colm Brophy
Eoghan Murphy
Fergus O’Dowd
Frances Fitzgerald (Minister for Justice, Equality, and Law Reform)
Heather Humphreys (Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs)
Helen McEntee (Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People)
Jim Daly
Joe Carey
Joe McHugh (Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development)
John Deasy
John Paul Phelan
Josepha Madigan
Mary Mitchell O’Connor (Minister of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation)
Michael D’Arcy
Michael Ring (Minister for Regional Economic Development)
Noel Rock
Paschal Donohoe (Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform)
Pat Breen (Minister of State for Employment and Small Business)
Pat Deering
Patrick O’Donovan
Peter Burke
Paul Kehoe (Minister of State with responsibility for Defence)
Peter Fitzpatrick
Regina Doherty
Richard Bruton (Minister for Education)
Seán Kyne (Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources)
Tom Neville
Tony McLoughlin
Senators
Catherine Noone
Frank Feighan
Joe O’Reilly
Kieran O’Donnell
Maria Byrne
Martin Conway
Maura Hopkins
Michelle Mulherin
Neale Richmond
Paddy Burke
Ray Butler
MEPs
Brian Hayes
SIMON COVENEY
TDs
Damien English
Dara Murphy
David Stanton
Hildegarde Naughton
Kate O’Connell
Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy (Minister of State for Health Promotion)
Maria Bailey
Peter Fitzpatrick
Seán Barrett (former Ceann Comhairle)
Simon Harris (Minister for Health)
Senators
Colm Burke
Gabrielle McFadden
James Reilly (Fine Gael’s Deputy Leader)
Jerry Buttimer
John O’Mahony
Paudie Coffey
Paul Coughlan
Tim Lombard
MEPs
Deirdre Clune
Mairead McGuinness
Who’s hiding?
Under Fine Gael party rules, TDs and senators account for 65% of the votes (73 members), while councillors account for 10% (235 members) and general party members make up 25% (almost 21,000).
But Ministers publicly backing either candidate could hold sway with local councillors and the party’s membership.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan (who announced his retirement on Friday) is still to declare his support for either candidate.
The campaign has just under a week left to go, with the leadership result announced by Friday 2 June.
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