MARY FITZPATRICK HAS been selected as Fianna Fáil’s candidate for the European elections in Dublin.
Earlier today we reported that either Fitzpatrick, who is a councillor; Geraldine Feeney; or Tiernan Brady would be selected by the hundreds of Fianna Fáil members voting at the selection convention in Dublin this afternoon.
Fitzpatrick, who is a Dublin city councillor, leads the Fianna Fáil group on the council.
Cllr Fitzpatrick describe it as “an honour to have won the support of the ordinary members of the Fianna Fáil party”.
Dublin needs a strong and active voice in Europe to push its interests and those of our country. Europe is not the answer to all our problems, but it could and should be doing more to help create growth which brings decent jobs.
Fitzpatrick had strong words to say about the Fine Gael-Labour coalition, saying: “Our arrogant and complacent government has a policy of just waiting for things to turn up. I believe we need a more active voice in Europe and that is the role I want to play.”
She came to prominence in the 2007 general election after she missed out on a seat despite polling nearly twice as many first preference votes as fellow Fianna Fáil candidate Cyprian Brady.
Fitzpatrick made the following election video for the party’s voters, emphasising her experience:
(Mary Fitzpatrick/YouTube)
The party Fianna Fáil said that over 700 party members voted on who should be the candidate in the Dublin constituency in May’s elections to the European Parliament.
Today was the first time that the party’s members have all had a vote in selecting candidates for Europe.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said at the convention: “With Mary as our candidate I believe we have a really strong chance of winning a seat in Dublin and electing someone who will be a first rate MEP.”
He noted that Fitzpatrick “has been an incredibly active and successful leader of our group on Dublin City Council” for the past four years.
“Time and again Mary has shown that she can work across different communities and will never step back when it comes to her principles,” he said.
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