There is much speculation about the Barry political dynasty following Ms Deirdre Clune's defeat in the Seanad elections, writes Michael O'Regan, Parliamentary Reporter
Ms Deirdre Clune's decision on whether to continue in politics could be an interesting barometer of Fine Gael's future fortunes.
While Ms Clune's defeat in Cork South Central in the general election was always considered likely, her failure to secure a Seanad seat was a major surprise.
She is currently considering her political future.
The Barry political dynasty in Cork stretches back to 1954 when Anthony Barry, of the tea importers Barry & Co Ltd, won a Dáil seat for the then Cork city constituency. His son, Mr Peter Barry, who was later to become a senior party figure, continued the tradition when he was elected to the Dáil in 1969.
When Mr Barry retired from politics in 1997, his daughter, Ms Clune, became the third generation of the family to represent Cork in the Oireachtas.
Ms Clune lost her Cork South Central seat in the general election as Fine Gael went into meltdown. It was taken by Mr Dan Boyle, of the Green Party, who had painstakingly built a Dáil base in the constituency.
The other seats were won by her party colleague, Mr Simon Coveney, the Fianna Fáil Minister for Health, Mr Martin, and his party colleagues Mr Batt O'Keeffe and Mr John Dennehy.
Given the decline in Fine Gael's fortunes, Ms Clune's seat was always going to be vulnerable.
An Evening Echo MRBI poll in March predicted the loss of her seat to Mr Boyle. This led to a local vote management strategy aimed at ensuring that she received a maximum number of transfers from Mr Coveney, and that her appeal in the predominantly middle-class constituency was was also maximised in terms of other transfers.
Ms Clune outpolled Mr Coveney in first preferences - 5,538 to his 5,197 - but it was her transfers which elected him on the seventh count.
Ms Clune seemed a strong prospect for a Seanad seat given the Barry tradition and the fact that party headquarters backed candidates with Dáil prospects rather than established senators.
However she was beaten by the sole survivor of the established senators, Mr Paul Coghlan, from Killarney, Co Kerry, after an intense battle in a long count.
There was a time when it would have been unthinkable that a Barry would not be among those representing Cork South Central.
Mr Peter Barry served in a number of ministries when Fine Gael was in power in the 1970s and 1980s. He was also a deputy leader of the party and was sometimes spoken of as a future leader.
Indeed, there was a school of thought that Fine Gael should have opted for Mr Barry as an interim leader, rather than Mr Alan Dukes as its long-term prospect, when Dr Garret FitzGerald retired following the party's poor showing in the 1987 general election.
Ms Clune retains a local political base as a member of Cork Corporation for the south-east ward. She polled over 1,100 first preferences in the 1999 local elections.
Fine Gael sources say that the party's fortunes cannot but lift and that Fianna Fáil's grip on three of the five seats in the constituency is not tenable in the long-term.They also point out that the Barry dynasty was interrupted by Dáil defeats in her grandfather's time.
Anthony Barry lost his Dáil seat at the end of his first term in 1957, but won it back in 1961. History, they say, can repeat itself in a rejuvenated Fine Gael.