FOUR FIANNA FÁIL councillors in Limerick who broke away from the main party after the local election results last week have decided they will, in fact, take their places on the party benches at the first council meeting this Friday.
Eddie Ryan, Kevin Sheahan, Kieran O’Hanlon and Joe Crowley had formed a group they were calling ‘Independent Fianna Fáil’. The split emerged after a row over the leader and deputy leader positions for the group of 13 Fianna Fáil councillors.
It came after a huge success for the party, winning more seats on this particular council than any other group.
In a statement today, the party said that the disagreement has now been resolved following discussions between all 13 councillors and th party’s general secretary Seán Dorgan on Friday evening.
“All 13 elected councillors will now take their place on the Fianna Fáil benches at the first meeting of Limerick City and County Council this week,” it said.
The party thanked all councillors for their “constructive and positive approach” during the discussions.
This wasn’t the first post-election hiccup for the party, with Fianna Fáil TD and PAC chairman John McGuinness coming out last Sunday, before counts were even finished, to say he would consider challenging Micheál Martin’s leadership.
McGuinness said he believed action needed to be taken to address the party’s direction.
Meanwhile, Martin was forced to concede that Mary Hanafin had done very well in the local election, despite the fact that the party had distanced itself from her after she went against repeated calls to withdraw from the race in Blackrock.
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