Tag Archives: Barry Andrews

This evening.

Earlier….

UPDATE:

Ms Daly is now on 65,683 votes following the distribution of the votes of the Social Democrats’ Gary Gannons following his elimination on the 14th count.

Mr Andrews is on 63,177 and outgoing MEP Lynn Boylan of Sinn Féin is in fifth place on 51,632.

Earlier…

European Election Count Centre, RDS, Dublin 4.

A recount is underway in the Dublin constituency to decide whether Independents4Change’s Clare Daly (above left) or Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews (above right) will automatically take the third seat (after Ciaran Cuffe and Frances Fitzgerald) and who – under Brussels regulations – will only be allowed take their seat once Britain formally withdraws from the EU.

More as we get it.

Earlier: ‘It Could End Up In The Courts’

Rollingnews

Last night

RDS count centre, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4

The Dublin count of the European Election was suspended following a dispute over transfers between candidates Independents4Change Clare Daly (top centre) and Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews (above) and will resume at 11am.

Green Party’s Ciaran Cuffe and Fine Gael’s Frances Fitzgerald have already been elected in Dublin. Brexit means Dublin gets an additional MEP  and whoever wins between Mr Andrews and Ms Daly would only become a full MEP after Britain’s withdrawal.

Part of the disagreement centred on whether [Sinn Fein MEP] Ms [Lynn] Boylan’s vote should be distributed after [Soc Dem[ Mr [Gary] Gannon – something Ms Daly argued was “very clear” under new legislation and, she contended, was an approach being followed in the Ireland South constituency, which also has a Brexit seat.

That dispute has raised further questions about how the count was conducted – including whether the surpluses of Ms Fitzgerald and Mr Cuffe should also be counted.

After detailed discussions between the Returning Officer and the two parties – both of whom had legal advice – Mr Gallagher suspended the count.

However, there is no certainty that the issue will be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction – which raises the possibility, it could end up in the courts.

Daly, Andrews in dispute over transfers at Dublin count (RTÉ)

Rollingnews

UPDATE:

This morning, on RTÉ Radio One’s Today with Seán O’Rourke, Virgin Media One’s Political Correspondent Gavan Reilly pointed out an anomaly.

He explained that barrister and Minister of State for Local Government and Electoral Reform John Paul Phelan told Morning Ireland earlier this morning that Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan’s votes should not be redistributed…

However, Mr Reilly highlighted that this wasn’t what Mr Phelan told the Seanad on March 6:

Via Gavan Reilly

 

Former junior minister Barry Andrews has been selected as the party’s candidate for the upcoming European elections in Dublin.mr Andrews beat competition from ex-ministers Mary Hanafin and Conor Lenihan and marriage equality campaigner Tiernan Brady to get the nomination.

His father, David Andrews, was TD for Dún Laoghaire between 1965 and 2002 and minister for foreign affairs on two separate occasions…

His cousin, Chris Andrews, was also a Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin South East from 2007 to 2011…and is now a Sinn Féin member of Dublin City Council.

Niall Andrews – Barry’s uncle and Chris’s father – was a TD for Dublin South between 1977 and 1987, and also served as a Fianna Fáil MEP for Dublin for 20 years…

Barry Andrews: European candidate plucked from Fianna Fáil royalty (Irish Times)


Meanwhile

Across from Tiernan, in Column B, you have three former ministers, each seeking a return to national politics after some time away though, to be fair to Mary Hanafin she did get back into local politics as a councillor for Blackrock in 2014.

All three former ministers, each carrying a family name with strong political associations: Barry Andrews, Mary Hanafin and Conor Lenihan have not just proved their capabilities as Ministers, they each have admirable ministerial records

On this basis it can be argued that the Fianna Fáil in Dublin cannot avoid picking a strong candidate, but – and this is why I lump the three ex-ministers together and describe the choice as binary – the perceived strengths of the three amigos is also their collective weakness.

Reading the campaign emails and social media posts announcing their candidacies, it was easy to mistake one for the other. Each claimed their time as a minister, their Dáil experience and their recognised family name as a unique qualification to run, but the “unique” strengths which they each see as defining them barely separates them.

It is 15 years since Fianna Fáil last won a European Parliament seat in Dublin with Eoin Ryan (in 2004). That is a long time.

If Fianna Fáil wants to win a seat in Dublin this time – and it needs to – then it must reach out beyond its existing hinterland and attract voters who not have seen Fianna Fáil as speaking to or for them. Only one of the candidates on offer has the proven ability to do this.

The seat will not be won by nostalgically getting the old band back together to play some favourites – no matter how much some of us may care for the tune. The choice is clear.

Derek Mooney (What Separates Brady From The Bunch, January 22)

Fight!

Rollingnews