Kildare Council: The presidential hopeful Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon has said she will take her fight for a presidential nomination to the members of the Oireachtas if, as seems likely, she fails to get the required nomination of four county councils.
Speaking at Kildare County Council yesterday after that council voted 18 votes to six against nominating the former MEP, Ms Scallon told The Irish Times she would be particularly seeking the backing of Independent members of the Oireachtas for her independent candidacy.
"It they don't then I think they should explain why", she commented. Ms Scallon who had earlier addressed the members of Kildare County Council asking "not for personal endorsements", said she believed her chance of success at Kildare had been scuppered by Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, who she claimed had said at the weekend "that the party whip was still on". She said she was not surprised that the Fine Gael members had voted en bloc to refuse to allow her name to go forward.
In her address to the council Ms Scallon said she was asking only that the members "exercise your constitutional right to allow an independent to challenge". No one stood above the Constitution and no one had the right to infringe on the constitutional rights of another, she hoped councillors would not allow their constitutional rights to be set aside.
Arguing that "500,000 young adults of voting age wanted to vote" she said that if a young person had been 17 at the time of the last presidential election, they would be 31 before the next election. "They are aware they are in danger of being denied the right to vote and they will know who it is who denied them".
Ms Scallon said she had been the first to open up the facility of being nominated for presidential office by county councils: it was now recognised as an important power which could be exercised by councillors and she asked that they do not throw that away. She also asked that councillors who felt they could not support her nomination abstain from voting.
However, Fine Gael councillor Senan Griffin said no instructions from party headquarters had been received by the Fine Gael party on the council and at a meeting the seven Fine Gael councillors had been given a "free and open vote" and had all said they would be voting against Dana's nomination "as individuals".
Proposing the nomination of Dana Mr Liam Doyle of Fianna Fáil said he had voted for the President, Mrs McAleese last time and "she had served brilliantly".
When he heard she was to seek a second term he decided he would vote for her and his proposal that the council allow Ms Scallon to contest "should not be construed as an endorsement of Dana's candidature".
However, he said an electoral contest would allow the people to give Mrs McAleese a "resounding endorsement" and a "chance to showcase her talents and zeal". He agreed with Dana about the importance of their power and concluded "if you don't use it you can lose it".
Seconding the motion, Independent councillor Tony McEvoy said he was "bowing to the high-mindedness of Cllr Doyle for not showing the prejudice of his party".
Cllr Paul Kelly of Fianna Fáil said the democratic principle was that "Dana can come and ask" for the nomination but she had "no absolute right" to be successful. "There is a method and a structure. This is an exercise in democracy but if you don't get the votes you don't get elected." On a vote the proposal to nominate Ms Scallon was supported by Fianna Fáil councillors, Geraldine Conway and Liam Doyle; Green Party councillor J.J. Power and Independents Catherine Murphy, Mary Glennon and Tony McEvoy.