The ongoing row in the Labour Party over candidate strategy in the Dublin South constituency continued yesterday when a meeting of the Organisation Committee deferred a decision on whether to run one or two candidates, after hearing a strong plea from the selected candidate, Cllr Aidan Culhane, not to have a running mate.
At a Labour selection convention some months ago, Cllr Culhane tied with Cllr Alex White and was only selected as a candidate after his name was pulled out of a hat.
Cllr White made it clear after the convention that he would like to be added to the ticket.
Last night Cllr Culhane maintained that the party leadership had indicated its support for Cllr White by indicating that it wanted a two-candidate strategy. He welcomed the Organisation Committee decision to defer a decision on the issue in defiance of the leadership preference.
"I am pleased that the committee has not endorsed this attempt by the leadership to foist a strategy that will hinder our capacity to win the seat for Labour in Dublin South.
The committee now will have an opportunity to deliberate properly on the issue at a later date," he said.
"I am confident that common sense will prevail and that we can concentrate on the important business of winning a seat for Labour in Dublin South," said Cllr Culhane.
He said the local constituency organisation had strongly endorsed the Organisation Committee's recommendation for a single candidate strategy at the selection convention last year.
"The leadership decision to announce its support for a two candidate strategy comes without any consultation with the Dublin South constituency. Such a strategy would make no sense for Labour in Dublin South.
"The alternative of Labour and Fine Gael has already three candidates in the field in pursuit of what is probably a single winnable seat. A fourth candidate would be a nonsense. Labour's single candidate and single campaign is already a distinct advantage. The party locally is working well and is committed to the fight ahead. It neither deserves nor needs this distraction," he said.
The case being made by Cllr. White and his supporters is that half of the Dublin South constituency is in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown council area, where Cllr Culhane is a member of the council, and half in South Dublin, where Cllr White was elected.
On this basis the argument is made for running both as candidates. The ultimate decision on whether Cllr White is added will rest with the party leader, Pat Rabbitte, and the parliamentary party chairwoman, Breeda Moynihan Cronin. It is considered highly unlikely that they would go against the advice of the Organisation Committee.
