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Updated 8.54am
COUNCILLOR JENNIFER CUFFE has thrown her name into the race to be the Fianna Fáil general election candidate in Dún Laoghaire where three councillors, including former minister Mary Hanafin, are already contesting.
Cuffe, a 28-year-old barrister from Cabinteely, announced her decision in a statement late last night following a meeting of party members in the constituency.
Her entry into the race makes for a highly competitive four-way battle for the nomination to contest the next election for Fianna Fáil in the south Dublin constituency.
Hanafin along with fellow councillors Kate Feeney and Cormac Devlin are also seeking the party’s nomination.
Cuffe’s decision will also come as a surprise to party leader Micheál Martin who said on the Late Late Show last Friday that she was not running.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie this morning, Cuffe said: “That was a miscommunication to Micheál, that I wasn’t going forward.” She said she was “confident” of winning the nomination, and added:
I had always decided that I was going to go forward I just hadn’t been public about it.
Feeney and Hanafin fought a high-profile battle for council seats in last year’s local elections. After Fianna Fáil botched the nominating process, Hanafin ended up running as an ‘unofficial’ party candidate alongside Feeney, with both eventually being elected to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown council.
Hanafin has since joked that what became known as the ‘Battle of Blackrock’ has now become the ‘War of Dún Laoghaire’.
Both Hanafin and Feeney have expressed the view that Fianna Fáil would have the best chance of winning a seat by running only one candidate.
But Fianna Fáil must also consider the fact that 30 per cent of its candidates must be female at the next election, meaning if Devlin is selected by members the party may have to add a female candidate to the ticket.
In a statement last night, Cuffe said: “Having grown up in the area and lived here all my life, I am acutely aware of the issues affecting people. I would be honoured to represent my community, my neighbours and the Fianna Fáil party as their General Election candidate.
She added: “This is an important time for the Fianna Fáil party and it is a competitive convention. I think that this is very positive and shows that Fianna Fáil is thriving in Dun Laoghaire.”
No date has yet been set for the selection convention, though it is likely to take place before the end of May.
It’s a war consisting of a young, slightly older and even older again version of the same blonde haired woman.
She’s particularly hot.
*Nice.
Niiiice
Who cares what’s going on in FF they won’t be getting within a bulls roar of government any time soon
Kate Feeny is hotter, but I’d rather vote for all the communist lites than vote for FF.
Makes no difference who you vote for the party leader calls the shots
Niiiicccccceeee
Her smile looks like it’s been photoshopped into place afterwards
Not to stereotype but I don’t think an anti-austerity party is exactly going to beat them in Blackrock
Colin people in blackrock don’t like being lied to either
Niiiiiiiccccccceeeeeee
FF are a waste of precious votes. Remind young voters what they did to this country. Vote for anyone else.
You might be making a slight miscalculation there now.how about FF and FG.
Colin, Hanfin originally lost the dail seat to Richard Boyd Barrett.
Nice.
FF are still poison though. Vote at your peril.
I nominate your bum
Do you mind not talking about the future Mrs Carino like that …..
That’s not quite fair. One of the ladies is a teacher and the other is a barrister.
And as we all know, Dáil Éireann is desperately short of teachers and barristers.
Also, whatever happened to “Rathdown” – as in “the constituency of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown”? Was there a divorce? Did it fall into the sea? Has it been repossessed by the banks along with half of Killiney? We should be told.
“Rathdown” was renamed “Gorse Hill” about 2 or 3 years ago. A really rich family bought it from the council using IOUs.
Just another bog standard ould constituency
The reason there are so many teachers in politics is because if you are a young person thinking of going into politics later, it’s the ideal job. It’s basically part time, leaving plenty of scope to canvas etc; it’s pensionable and if you are elected to the dail, they will hold your job open for you if you want to come back to it later. Win win.
The holidays are also the same dermot
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown is a County. Dun Laoghaire is a constituency.
David,
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown is in Dublin.
County Dublin.
Regardless of your political alignments nobody can argue that Fianna Fail are a toxic party who ruined this country through bad governance and the brown envelope culture yet they attack a certain party about their economic policies while forgetting it was actually THEIR policies that destroyed the country. There’s only one way for FF to go and that’s down.
This is just a non story designed by FF to create publicity around little known councillors. The media shouldn’t aid FF in their game. Avoid avoid avoid!
She’ll never be stuck for a seat so long as my face is around
FF desperate to keep mehole and his meltdowns out of the media
A candidate I’d be happy to get behind
So young and so naive. Adopting FF policies.
See.
Here we go,
Gender quotas subverting the democratic process.
Well she’s much better looking then Bertie and Brian .
But belonging to the FF party won’t cut it ,they drove this country onto the rocks shall never never vote for them again
Councillor Jennifer Cuffe and Fianna Fáil support water tax and water metering.
Vote for the MILF party.
Run of the MILFF stuff!
With a bit of luck and voter commonsense, none of these FFers will be elected.
Hanafin, in particular, has some brass neck (and probably a brass ego too) to run again after her place at the cabinet table of the previous fiasco of a government.
she’s a tasty mare in fairness
How can FF claim to be competent to run a country when their own leader doesn’t even know whose running and who isn’t. Their recent love in with RTE is going to have to be stepped up a notch.
Yeah how exciting. A teacher and barrister, how original is that in the dail, I’m sure their really going to shake things up for the avarage Joe.
Wonder if the collar matches the cuffe?
Well played Sir.
Another high earner as a barrister who wont be able to relate to the ordinary working class people and she should fit in with the rest of the upper crust enforcing more taxes etc on us.
Yes cause 28 year old barristers earn SO much…. Not
The usual “FF ruined this country” rant aside, the Party should run two candidates in DLR. It is an area where they have traditionally been strong and running two would bolster this. Devlin should certainly get the nod, still making my mind up on the others.
Not exactly a working class hero.
With a bit of luck all 3 will run and split the vote so FF don’t get in at all. The whole thing really shines a spotlight on Martins complete ineptitude, not that we were in any doubt anyway.
She deserves to get peoples number 2
Why is this even news worthy, is the Journal going to do the same every time any of the political parties have more than one candidate for a constituency????
Woof woof – will appeal to the ‘floating’ voter a lot more than the old biddy
I can tell you nobody in working class dunlaoire borough will vote either of these westbrit parties in!!!jobs for the boys as usual..glasthule,sallynoggin,ballybrack,loughlinstown,shankill,monkstown farm,dunlaoire town says NO!!!!
I would yeah !
She’d get a number two anyway. And a 4 and a 7…. And an 8
With a bit if luck neither ff/fg will get elected in dunlaoire
Won’t be voting for any young/old blonde wind bag FF put forward!….Next.
FF … Oh please no
Why did only a few lines of my comment get posted????denis o’briens/bellendas media police censoring in the journal again????
Writing as a voter in Dun Laighaire, if style and elegance are the criteria Kate wins by a mile!
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