88 In Favour, 66 Against

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Seats laid out at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire last night; Fine Gael TD Maria Bailey leaving the hotel last night

This morning.

RTÉ’s Political Correspondent Paul Cunningham told Morning Ireland that last night’s motion calling for an urgent review of general election candidates by Fine Gael’s executive council passed 88 in favour and 66 against.

He said 120 chairs were laid out for last night’s meeting but 160 people turned up, while around 20 people spoke, including Fine Gael TD Maria Bailey.

He described the atmosphere as “pointed but polite” and that most of the speakers spoke against the motion.

He said Ms Bailey told those present that the opinions of Fine Gael’s members mattered to her; she was “always a diligent TD”; she was “fighting for her political life”; and she “regretted how the party became engulfed in media exposure” but she wants to be their candidate.

Last night’s motion is not a binding motion and Fine Gael’s executive council will now have the final say as to who will go on the general election ticket.

Listen back in full here

Last night: Sway To Go

Previously: “The Motion Is Widely Viewed As A Move Against Her”

‘I Found Myself On The Floor’

Pics: Paul Cunningham

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21 thoughts on “88 In Favour, 66 Against

  1. Pip

    One would hope that a fairly significant number of folk all over the country will see this as a watershed moment.
    Oh and Farrell, Zappone and ah… I give up.
    Gotta love the gravy.

  2. Eoineyo

    Unbelievable that it takes party members to stop her while Leo and the muppet show, the mainstream media and even the Gardai ignore her attempts to commit insurance fraud and Alan Farrell skips away after committing insurance fraud.
    When will we get a political party that will represent the majority of people in this country because we just can’t keep getting these leaches sucking the life out of our little country?

    1. V

      But shur’ even if the Party Executive keep her on the ticket

      You have a grassroot majority there that won’t be much help getting the vote out

      Anyway, I can’t see Leo p1ssing off the local branch party members

      1. Brother Barnabas

        88 to 66 was a lot closer than it should have been – if there was any depth of principled decency within that party, grassroots or other

        1. V

          She should have been removed by the National Exec months ago, anyway, it should never have gone to a Branch / Comhairle meeting to decide for them

          But the test here is will the National Exec try and overrule the local activists
          I doubt it because Leo didn’t do well out’ve the party grassroot vote in the Leadership contest

  3. paul

    “He described the atmosphere as “pointed but polite” and that most of the speakers spoke against the motion.”

    Spoke against but voted for I’d imagine. Not a party I would associate with honesty and integrity.

  4. Jeffrey

    The worse part about irish politician is that they just don’t know when to stop… Go away Maria, you got your chance, you blew it.

  5. Spaghetti Hoop

    SwingGate has been going on for six months now. The incident itself happened four years ago. Badly handled from the beginning by the blue shirts. Cut her loose and move on.

    1. Rob_G

      Indeed. She really must have a lot of friends to be still in the running at all; surely ordinary FGers can see what an electoral liability this whole affair will be?

  6. Ron

    “Always a diligent TD”

    This only thing this piece of political filth is sorry about is that she got caught… twice!!!! Not once, twice!

    Listening to the usual daw jawed media and other bottomholes who think the narrative is about whether Maria Bailey would be elected or not and that’s what’s driving the decision making process. As usual it’s the inept, incompetent twats who call themselves “experts” that try to tell us all what our opinion should be on this.

    Absolutely none of these daw jaws actually understand that this isn’t about who will win the seat, this should be about why Maria Bailey is unfit for public office. This is about her actions which demonstrate zero integrity, zero respect for the office she was elected to. Lies, untruths, sleeveen behaviour in office. Wasn’t she well taught by her sleeveen father.

    And for all the bottom hole daw jaws that say “Maria Bailey has paid the price, when does it stop for her”. It stops when she stops scamming the system. Idiots seem to think this was a once off. She lied to make a fraudulent claim to get money. Not long after she made expense claims outside of what’s allowed and had to refund money following audit!!!! How many other instances of it are there?? What hasnt been audited. A MISTAKE REPEATED MORE THAN ONCE IS A DECISON.

    And as for the overall state of politics in this banana republic, did you all watch the news last night to see the procession of wrinkled old men, I didn’t see anyone under 70 on their way into make a decision that effects the whole country!! A select cabal of dinosaurs who want to drag this country back to the stone age they were born in. That’s more of the democratic deficit.

    French style protests on the street until this cabal of incompetent filth who rape the state every single day are removed from our twisted disgusting parliamentary decision making structures

  7. GiggidyGoo

    She would like to be on the ticket so that she can represent the plebs. As if anyone in their right mind would have something she would represent

  8. Gabby

    I’ll be “pointed but polite” when I go to a polling station next year and vote for Independents.

  9. Tea And Brexits

    Local politics at work. Marie Baker, coming from the other end of the constituency where Maria Bailey’s vote centres, innocently swings the axe for the good of the electorate as Barry Ward plasters Blackrock with his posters about a meeting – the same week…

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