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Updated 2.30pm
MARY HANAFIN HAS said she will not run as independent if she fails to win the Fianna Fáil nomination to run in Dún Laoghaire at the next election.
The former minister said it would be “entirely disingenuous” of her to run as an independent and insisted the next election is not about her.
Hanafin was speaking on Today with Seán O’Rourke at the end of a week where her fellow Blackrock councillor Kate Feeney declared her intention to seek the Fianna Fáil nomination in Dún Laoghaire
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.
Both were elected to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and will now both be seeking the Fianna Fáil nomination to run in the general election in the south Dublin constituency. It’s being being billed as a resumption of the ‘Battle of Blackrock’.
But Hanafin told RTÉ that the internal party battle was not important and that the bigger battle would be winning the seat:
“That Battle of Blackrock is well over, the war of Dún Laoghaire now is the one that’s coming up, where four existing TDs into three will not go and add in the rest of us and that’s where the real war has to be won at the next election.”
Hanafin also said that Fianna Fáil should only run one candidate in the constituency, believing it represents the best chance of winning a seat.
“We’re still being criticised for the last election, where we ran two, and we didn’t have a choice at the last election because we had two ministers,” she said.
Feeney shares Hanafin’s view but believes that party members in the constituency should vote for her to be that candidate, saying she represents a change from the party old guard.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie yesterday, the first-time councillor said: “A lot of people are saying there hasn’t really been any change.
“There has been change in the party and we need to start showing that. We have a strong base of young candidates coming forward. I think it’s time they are given a chance.”
Another Fianna Fáil councillor, Dún Laoghaire-based Cormac Devlin, also intends to contest the selection convention, which is due to take place before the end of May. He told this website that the battle for the nomination is about “policies, not personalities”.
“It’s about the future direction of Fianna Fail and how we can best represent hard-pressed families who care about issues that matter like the lack of housing, mortgage arrears and childcare,” he insisted.
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All her battles seem to benefit herself. She is a careerist. Like the last Fianna Fail councillor to leave last week its all about how far can you go not how best can you improve your area or better your country.
Sure this woman was a minister during the crash, now she has the cheek to come back and describe her “battles” while the poor have real battles to deal with.
This woman has 0 policies and 0 empathy for the suffering she has caused.
What wrong with putting yourself forward as an independent? Party candidates are selected by who’s family has the better political links/family dynasty within the party. Feeney pushed into blackrock a prime example. Let the people at the ballots.
For most TD’s there are easier ways of making a few pound. What suffering has hanifin caused you anyway no more then someone from FG or labour?
Nothing wrong with being an independent. Its the history with Fianna Fail and crashing the country that bothers me.
Hanifin sat by while our country crashed causing my parents to loose all their savings and myself, well i was 14 when it happened so
“What suffering has hanifin caused you anyway no more then someone from FG or labour?” Well 2 wrongs don’t make a right. If I lived in her constituency I would be voting for Richard Boyd Barrett who has done a great service to the area and actually cares about the little people in society.
“What suffering has hanifin caused you anyway no more then someone from FG or labour?”
That’s a tough question but I’ll give it a shot. She was a very high-profile and senior cabinet member of a Fianna Fail government on whose watch the following happened;
1) The inflation of a property bubble, because it allowed them to enrich their banker and developer buddies, and award themselves massive pay rises, perks and pensions. Normal Joe and Mary Soaps had to borrow huge sums of money just to put a roof over their families heads and after the whole thing went wallop were living with sub-standard houses built in the middle of nowhere that had more than halved in value.
2) The near total collapse of the country’s banking system
3) Massive economic downturn
4) Loss of economic sovereignty to the Troika
5) NAMA
6) Unemployment going through the roof
7) Emmigration going through the roof.
8) Huge cuts to services for the disadvantaged, vunerable and needy.
And that’s just for starters – most of the crap that the present government is trying to deal with now has it’s genesis in the property bubble and the disastrous after effects. And what happened to Mary and her FF mates for being a part of this catastrophic mismanagement? In addition to being ridiculously well re-numerated while she was on the job, she got a massive golden handshake for loss of office and is a beneficiary of 4 pensions funded by the taxpayer. She is only in her 50′s. She is really reaping what she sowed (NOT). And has she ever showed any contrition or recognition for the part she and her political party played in the mess this country is mired in? Not a hope – that would require a conscience. She is more concerned about her beloved “party”. It’s business as usual and she is pushing herself forward for public office and is pretending the whole thing never happened.
So the next time you are paying your way-overpriced mortgage on your devalued house, remember Mary Hanafin. The next time your special needs child is not getting the help he needs in school because of retraction of services, remember Mary Hanafin. The next time you are skype’ing with some family members that have emigrated to Australia and will likely never return, remember Mary Hanafin.
She and her like did this country some service.
If you think FG, Labour, SF or the independents are/would have been any different. Look at Ross rounding up a few sheep to see if he can get a ministers position for himself.
Blaming Hanafin for the recession is abit like UKIP blaming HIV immigrants in the UK.
And while I don’t believe in claiming multiple state pensions it’ the norm in the public sector. All public servants/TD’s have similar pensions so to single her out is a bit strange. Are the Anti austerity alliance working for free or are they all claiming there “leaders allowance” on top of there TD’s salary and travel allowances. Do you begrudge all widow pensioners who earn there own money or is it just Hanafin?
Kevin how did your parent lose all their savings? No banks collapsed as much as some would like.
@Joe Simpson.
“If you think FG, Labour, SF or the independents are/would have been any different. Look at Ross rounding up a few sheep to see if he can get a ministers position for himself.”
That’s just whataboutery. FG/Labour/SF probably would have done similar, they were clamouring for even more spending and tax cuts. But it’s hypothetical – they were in opposition and FF were the ones in power for the entirety of the period, it happened on their watch, the buck stops with them.
“Blaming Hanafin for the recession is abit like UKIP blaming HIV immigrants in the UK.”.
No it’s not, it’s completely different. The property bubble is the primary cause of all the woes this country is now dealing with. I hold the government of the day hugely responsible for the property bubble that they allowed develop and even encouraged. It was hugely advantageous to them for a number or reasons. Hanafin was an ever present cabinet member of that government. She, like the rest of her cabinet colleagues were very generously renumerated, and this was justified because of the huge responsibilities they bore as ministers. They gladly took the money, but since it all went south they haven’t bore any responsibility. I hold her as accountable for the mess as I do Ahern, Cowen, Martin et al.
“And while I don’t believe in claiming multiple state pensions it’ the norm in the public sector. All public servants/TD’s have similar pensions so to single her out is a bit strange. Are the Anti austerity alliance working for free or are they all claiming there “leaders allowance” on top of there TD’s salary and travel allowances. Do you begrudge all widow pensioners who earn there own money or is it just Hanafin?”
I doubt if there are many public servants that have 4 pensions. However I think a system that allows an individual to get 4 separate defined benefit pensions, all funded by the public purse, without means testing is really milking it and taking the complete and utter p1ss. The total yearly sum is well over a 100k, maybe more. It’s absolutely obscene particularly when there are cutbacks and hardship everywhere else in the ecomony, and PARTICULARLY when the individual in receipt of said pensions had such a prominent role in the government that caused the mess we’re in. THAT I begrudge.
‘We’re still being criticised for the last election..’ No dear, you’re still being criticised for destroying the country. Has this one no shame?
Seagrams, perfectly said.
I think Fianna Fáils biggest battle has become the enemy within. Massive infighting and distrust and they haven’t even started winning over new voters yet.
How will Mary manage ? she only has the teachers pension and €2500 a week from her ministerial positions , will be difficult
Will she ever go away? What a nasty piece of work she is. A career politician. Cannot wait to see the back of her …..
On the last two articles about this I left comments expressing my exasperation for the fact that Hanafin could even be a runner in another election. I asked what the hell is wrong with people, I suggested I didn’t want to be on the planet any more.
Why were those comments deleted?
I don’t know.
:-(
Not a fan.
I sense first time councillor Kate Feeney feels she entitled to the seat. I think she should earn the respect of the blackrock constituents who elected her in the local. A little bit of loyalty to them wouldn’t go astray.
What’s her policies?
0 and 0
= Fianna Fail
The party of nothing
Getting back on the gravy train .
Go away Haniffin
Anyone else enjoying watching the party who wrecked our economy twice in my lifetime, tear itself apart as much as I am??
Yup…….me!
Battle of the Fing Failed.
A sizeable proportion of the electorate in this country (the gombeens) have very short memories. If Hanafin gets the FF nomination I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she tops the poll there.
Mary the best you and the rest of the mafia Government that ruined the Country is to shut up and bow out.
two wasters in a wasted party in a wasted dail soon to be put out with the waste
Is that b*%#h still around
How about neither? One was there when ff ruined the country, the other comes from ff family, whose mother had a handy number in the Seanad and hasn’t done anything as a counsillor
I hope Ms Feeney wins … She’s purdy!
Actually usually Blackrock votes on how rich it can keep itself. Fianna Fail are great at protecting the rich. Pretty useless at everything else
Blackrock should have an independence referendum so
Yes and I’m sure the border crossing won’t effect their lavish houseprices and insurance firm economy
Don’t vote for this b@tch, she helped ruin the country and makes no apology for it.
What insurance firm economy Kevin?
Baha! That’s what you want to discuss? Nah
Mary Hanafin made the most dreadful minister of education last time. Arrogant and a true gravy train extractor. Really hope anyone other than this waste of space gets in .
Mary must be running out of gravy…
Shes doing a great job, of reminding us what a shower of freeloaders they are. She has her reward for f@&£%?g
this place up for generations to come, an enormous pension stopped from peoples wages all over the country and she wants more easy cash.
The reminder is worth something i suppose.
Wasn’t she the one who announced with great FF style patriotism that people would have to wait extra years for their pension, not her pension of course.
She makes me want to puke.
Why doesn’t she just go and play hide and seek?
Very untrustworthy looking woman,
Id rather vote for catherine nevin then vote hanaffin
Not one vote.
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