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FINE GAEL HAS been accused of ‘shafting’ women after a controversial directive to members in Louth saw the two sitting male TDs selected to run for re-election.
Incumbent deputies Fergus O’Dowd and Peter Fitzpatrick were last night selected to run for re-election in the Louth-East Meath constituency, leaving some spurned female candidates questioning the party’s commitment to gender quotas.
At a stormy selection convention in Dundalk, constituency members were given a directive from Fine Gael headquarters that one candidate should be from Dundalk and the other from Drogheda.
This led to the selection of the two sitting deputies at the expense of a number of local councillors who had been nominated, including Paddy Meade, Sharon Tolan, Dolores Minogue and Colm Markey.
Ardee-based Minogue told TheJournal.ie this afternoon that she believed her area and women in the party had been “shafted”.
“We are sandwiched between the two big towns the whole time. I feel that Fine Gael has now neglected mid Louth again. We’ve missed an opportunity to have a political representative at a national level for mid Louth.
We’ve missed a woman’s voice in mid Louth too. That’s very worrying when when we are supposed to be the party supporting women. I feel women and mid Louth have been shafted by Fine Gael.
Minogue said she was especially disappointed given she had been one of the councillors selected for special training by the party.
“It is disappointing especially when I was one of Enda’s people that was picked to do these meetings. They were a great insight into how the party runs and you’re being trained up for something,” she said.
It’s like being on the football team and you were told to get off. But the team was picked before we went in.
By law, a third of each political parties’ candidates for the next Dáil elections must be female with some observers projecting that Fine Gael will have to add at least three or four women to election tickets across the country.
The party insisted today it was “strongly committed” to increasing the number of female TDs in the next Dáil.
Another failed nominee, Bettystown-based councillor Sharon Tolan, said she was disappointed that members had not been directed to pick three candidates. She described the convention as a “missed opportunity”.
I would have had mixed views on gender quotas because I am anti-token women, but last night showed the importance of quotas in this country. Most incumbents are male and we’re never going to get decent female representation without gender quotas.
Tolan said that members were very angry at not being allowed to vote for the candidates they wanted. She also claimed that some had been in contact with her today to say they’d thrown their Fine Gael membership cards in the bin after last night’s events.
“People were very angry,” she said.
Both councillors are hopeful the party might add one of them to the ticket for the five-seat constituency. Minogue said she had been approached by “other people to go in a different direction” but insisted that it is not on her agenda at present.
Speaking to LMFM this morning, Fitzpatrick denied that anyone had been shafted.
The former county football boss u-turned on a decision to step down as a TD last month amid reports he was assured Fine Gael would only pursue a two-candidate strategy in Louth.
He insisted that last night’s directive came on foot of a recommendation of the Fine Gael executive in the constituency. He added:
I would never shaft anybody in my life. I’m a very honest individual.
In a response to questions about the directive to members in Louth, a Fine Gael spokesperson said:
The Fine Gael Executive Council determines candidate strategy, including directives and additions, in each constituency on a case-by–case basis in the interest of seeking to ensure the best possible electoral outcome. The Executive Council is a representative body, elected by the Fine Gael membership.
They added that in government Fine Gael has introduced the gender quotas requirement and insisted: “We are strongly committed to increasing the number of female TDs in the next Dáil.”
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Ya gotta love the headline!!!
Oo er missus!
Giggidy
That’s what she said
Is it not sexist to run gender quotas in the first place?
Isaac Hayes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFvRvSxsW-I
Going nowhere anyway.
Judging by the speed with which Miss Minogue turned on her own party, it looks like it was an astute decision by the local organisation to keep her off the ticket. The country doesn’t need any more Me-Feiners.
Good. Why should sitting TDs not get a chance to run because they are men?
Among other things I’m not voting for parties that support ANY type of quota
Louth are very well represented by Deputy Adams are they not Alan?
It being the joke I thought it said shift (though shaft’s funny) , it being politics I swore you wrote ‘ruin.’ ha
It’s a very interesting headline anyway.
Promised so much, failed to deliver (the headline that is!)
I thought it said shift
No, Fine Gael shafted everyone in the country on prom night.
FG will run women TD’s in constituencies they know they have no chance of winning a seat, so they might as well run their female quota there
What a pair of wasters for Louth ( O Dowd, Fitzy ). I have written to Fitzy on a number of issues. I never received an acknowledgement never mind a reply to my issues. If that is the best FG can do, well they are in deep doo doo.
Isn’t this the way FG operates?
Decisions are made before the meetings are held… If they are members of the party why are they surprised?
It doesn’t matter none of them are going to be elected after the way fg and lab shafted the people of ireland
Given its a 5 seat and both O’Dowd and Fitzpatrick are very Drogheda and Dundalk based I would have thought they’d have run 3 and have one run in the Ardee/Mid-Louth area. But they’re terrified they’ll lose a seat here so they decided to opt for just the two. FG have lost not only Cllr. Kevin Callan in Drogheda but Michael O’Dowd (Fergus’ brother) who is now in Reuna. Given Fergus started out in Labour that family has had more political switches than hot dinners.
The photo of Peter Fitz’s face superimposed on Katlinn Jenners body is doing the rounds and is absolute hilarious. Being from Dundalk, I really think he’ll struggle to get back in. He didn’t take Louth to the Leinster final this year, no longer a “celebrity” candidate.
The funny thing is that neither of the two sitting Deputies will be re-elected. O’Dowd has been terrible for the people of Drogheda, achieving nothing. He’s also recently been demoted from Junior Minister to a mere backbencher.
As for Deputy Fitzpatrick, the ‘celebrity’ candidate. The only reason he was selected was due to Louth coming second in the Leinster finals, Fitzpatrick as their manager. With respect to the man, he is a nice fellow, but can barley string a comprehensive sentence together.
Neither will be re-elected, simple as.
The irony of “barley” being able to string a sentence together is lost on you, I take it?
I also suspect the word you were looking for was “coherent”, not comprehensive. Again. Irony.
Irish Tony you are correct, any FG candidate has a snowballs chance in hell of getting elected!
I thought the headline had to do with another shatter book.
“The party insisted today it was “strongly committed” to increasing the number of female TDs in the next Dáil.”
Judge political parties by their actions, not their words.
FG have had AMPLE opportunity to back those words up in relation to gender quotas and are doing the complete opposite.
FG they would shaft their own mothers.
I’m confused …Didn’t we (including me) recently vote that raising kids by same sex couple is as productive as their equivalent traditional hetero couple ? So why should a woman be more entitled to a job in politics simply because of her genitals ?
Really bugs me : raising kids – gender irrelevant but
seek election – can depend whether you tick M / F ?
Frankly,like the vast majority of people , i don’t give a rats ass what gender my public reps are as long as their the best people for the job but it appears we must now dilute our shallow pool of talent further with ‘gender quotas’ .
Bar elite in Irish Society, whom have FG not shafted?
Probably the 110,000 people who found new jobs on their watch? And their families.
Jobsbridge jobs? You actually BELIEVE their statistics? Course, you also apparently believe Labour have done a great job, too. You’re completely delusional.
David Doyle you muppet. Scambridge is not real jobs
Peter Fitzpatrick is known as Shaft in some parts of Louth, in fairness, he is a sex machine to all the chicks..
Well I hope it doesn’t matter to the people in that constituency who Fine Gael put forward. I hope they have more sense than to ever vote any FG member in
The Blueshirts mafia strikes again!!!
Sure they’ve been shafting the whole country for the last 4 yrs
cry me a river. “I should get selected cos I’ve boobs, FG are being mean to me” You’re all as useless as each other.
Been shafted by the blue shirts many a time over last few year…. all the same the world over , bloody ballotics
It has already been said..but I love the headline.
Once again, East Meath gets ignored. Oh well…FG can feck right off with itself, they have picked two insular, backward candidates who care nothing for most of the constituency.
As opposed to the carpetbagger Adams from West Belfast?
Who’ll get in next year also. Least he’s a proven politician and leader who has sacrificed for his people unlike FG/Lab traitors who have shafted their people at every turn in the name of Angela. Say what you like about Gerry but he has taken bullets for his people
Men 1. – Feminists 0.
This is why the women weren’t chosen – Fitz was put under pressure by Kenny to go trans to slip under the gender quota radar. http://thefaaside.com/2015/07/07/1081
I’m from louth and it won’t make a slight bit of difference. ….. no fine gear male or female is getting my vote !!!
Watching the female FG TD’s on Vincent Browne’s ‘Tonight With…’ over the last 8 years, what’s the use in increasing their number, if they are essentially going to just parrot the party line. You can more or less write a script for their appearances yourself by this stage. Another irrelevant argument. Reform the procedures of the Dail/Seanad, don’t just put cosmetic reforms in place.
I don’t think Leo did….!
bet more than fg shafted women in Louth last night
The political shift is where you stick it in the wrong place… lol.
No matter which way you paint this picture the whole gender quota thing just reeks of tokenism which in my view is more sexist than what we have.Parties are only filling the quotas to get their funding grants.If I was a betting man I’d say you will see the following happen in the next general election for example women candidates for Fine Gael will be ran in areas where say Fianna Fail has traditionally held a seat so this will fill the gender quota and at the same time not threaten any sitting male TD’s who might have otherwise been removed from the voting ticket.The same is true for all parties
I thought they have shafted everyone?
Will Peter Fitzpatrick be at the count this time?
“By law, a third of each political parties’ candidates for the next Dáil elections must be female”
incorrect you can stand less a third female candidates if you wnat you just get less (50% less) state funding, its not mandatory
We do not want women in F.G. we want dopes lol. Not referring to Louth there lol.
enda is loyal to no one,he took a hand at yiz,you believed him,so stop whinging.
What do you expect from this deeply corrupt party?
I love those meetings where there’s a bit of woman shafting going on. especially in Louth. there’s nothing like a louth shafting.
Gender quotas dont work..What you need are outstanding candidates and not just a percentage of female applicants, that in itself is discrimantion
Never mind shafting women members, they’ve shafted the entire country since they came into power, not too long now before they are gone
have your say