Female candidate has 'no hope' of winning seat, says Longford rival for Fianna Fáil nomination
Members of Fianna Fáil's Longford branch are to hold a meeting tomorrow to choose a candidate for the General Election, amid a row over the imposition of a female representative.
An official convention was due to take place in October, but a directive came from party headquarters that Connie Gerety-Quinn should be selected as the Longford-Westmeath candidate over Cllr Seamus Butler and Pat O'Rourke, without a vote.
The move was part of Fianna Fáil's effort to meet the new gender quotas.
Cllr Butler said that the policy is ruining the party.
"It is breaking up the organisation," he said.
"If Fianna Fáil in headquarters want to ruin Fianna Fáil in Longford, and wants to put in a no-hope candidate, that is not, under any circumstances, going to be able to get a seat because they're not known and they've no experience [then] they've gone back on their word.
"I mean, if you haven't got your integrity, you've got nothing."
According to the Fianna Fáil website, Ms Gerety-Quinn is manager of County Longford Citizens Information Service (CIS) "presiding over the dissemination of independent information, advice and advocacy to the public for 16 years".
"I understand the direct effect that policy devised at a national level across all government departments has on ordinary people from all social backgrounds," she states.
A Fianna Fáil spokesperson said that any meeting held by the branch would not be recognised by the party.
"Robert Troy TD and Connie Geraty Quinn are the Fianna Fáil candidates in Longford Westmeath for the upcoming General Election," the spokesperson said.
"The National Constituencies Committee has not been formally notified of any meeting in the constituency to discuss alternative candidates and any such meeting would be outside of the party's longstanding rules and procedures governing such matters.
"Such a meeting would therefore not be recognised by the party.
"We are confident that with Deputy Robert Troy and Connie Geraty Quinn, Fianna Fáil can be competitive for two seats in the constituency and the campaign to achieve that has already begun."
