A ROW has blown up in Fine Gael in Dublin North Central over a decision by the party's national executive to add a third candidate to the ticket in the forthcoming general election.
The party is today expected to formally announce that Ms Niamh Cosgrave has been added to the ticket. But Ms Cathy Fay, a councillor who had already been selected to fight for a second seat in the constituency, has called for the resignation of the party's director of elections, Mr Mark FitzGerald.
Ms Cosgrave is the daughter of Mr Mickey Joe Cosgrave, a candidate in Dublin North East and a former Fine Gael TD. She is the subject of a recent book on the hepatitis C scandal.
Ms Fay, who was selected at convention last October to be the running mate of the outgoing TD and Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Richard Bruton, yesterday strongly objected to the imposition of a third candidate.
The addition of Ms Cosgrave had come "as a complete shock" to her and the decision "undermines local democracy and reflects insensitivity to the party membership", she said.
Calling for Mr FitzGerald's resignation, she said the addition of another candidate jeopardised the party's chances of securing two seats in Dublin North Central and the return of Fine Gael to government.
A Fine Gael spokesman last night said Ms Fay had been consulted in advance of the decision last Thursday.
"The decision to add a third candidate was taken after the completion of a detailed constituency poll, conducted by MRBI, which indicated that Fine Gael's electoral chances would be greatly enhanced by the addition of a third candidate", he added.
It is understood that the poll indicated that while Fine Gael would get close to one and a half quotas, Ms Fay's share of that was less than 5 per cent. A full meeting of the constituency executive is expected to take place tonight and the controversy is likely to be raised there.