TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen refused to be drawn yesterday on a date for the three outstanding byelections, insisting no decisions had been taken on the matter.
Byelections in Donegal South West, Dublin South and Waterford are increasingly expected to take place on the same day next spring, possibly along with the Dublin mayoral election and the referendum on children’s rights.
However, Mr Cowen declined to confirm this when he spoke to reporters in Rahan, Co Offaly, yesterday. “Honestly, I don’t see what speculation adds to this situation at all. There are issues to be dealt with that have their own complexities. I mean the referendum issue is one that is being worked at at the moment by Minister [of State for Children, Barry] Andrews and a Cabinet subcommittee have been working at that,” he said.
The High Court will hear a judicial review application by Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty next month challenging the Government to move the writ for the Donegal South West byelection.
“That initiative was taken by another party in that respect and we will deal with it in due course,” Mr Cowen said.
Asked if the Donegal South West byelection would take place in March, Mr Cowen said no decisions had been taken on that matter. “When they are, we will communicate them,” he added.
The Green Party wants the three byelections to take place on the same day. Fianna Fáil Minister of State for the Office of Public Works Martin Mansergh said: “There may be a desire for financial reasons to hold them together.”
Mr Mansergh’s Tipperary South constituency colleague, backbencher Mattie McGrath, also of Fianna Fáil, said the byelections should not be delayed. “People are entitled to their representation. If they put them off for too long it’ll make a mockery of it.” People would question whether we needed all those seats, he said.
Seán Power, a Fianna Fáil TD for Kildare South, said at the weekend that voters were being denied their democratic right of representation in the Dáil.
Government candidates are considered unlikely to win the byelections, which would affect the Government’s increasingly delicate majority. However, a Government source insisted the Coalition could survive three defeats. “If we lost the three byelections there’s no doubt we’d be in a very tight situation. We’d still be able to win every vote but it would need very careful political management.”
Legislation to allow for a directly elected mayor of Dublin is expected to be published by next month. Meanwhile, Mr Andrews has insisted the children’s rights referendum was not being delayed due to pressure to not hold the byelections. Potential problems with the wording for an amendment to the Constitution proposed in February by the cross-party committee led by Fianna Fáil TD Mary O’Rourke have been flagged by the Departments of Justice, Health and Education.