The European Parliament election campaign has moved up a gear following the selection over the weekend of six candidates by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to run in three constituencies.
Fine Gael Cork South Central TD, Mr Simon Coveney has also made it clear he will seek a nomination at the end of this month to run for the party in the three-seat South constituency.
Fine Gael yesterday chose former TD Senator Jim Higgins and former senator Ms Madeleine Taylor-Quinn to contest the three-seat North-West Constituency, which will include Co Clare.
Following his selection by 1,300 delegates at the convention held in the Sligo Park Hotel, Mr Higgins called on voters to use the June 9th elections as a referendum on the Government's performance. "These elections present the people of Ireland with an ideal opportunity to pass verdict on the false promises made by the Government in advance of the last general election," he said.
Cllr Taylor-Quinn said the west of Ireland's potential is being choked by a lack of proper roads and other infrastructure, a problem that must be dealt with rapidly by the Government.
Fianna Fáil chose Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Liam Aylward, and Louth TD Mr Seamus Kirk to run for the party in the Leinster constituency, which has been cut to three seats.
Carlow-Kilkenny TD Mr Aylward, who has previously served on the Council of Europe, was the only candidate to have been nominated to run in the southern half of the constituency.
However, Mr Kirk, who is chairman of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party, ended up being selected unanimously after Kildare-based Mr Gerry Bridgette and Westmeath TD Mr Donie Cassidy withdrew their nominations.
Former Minister of State Mr Eoin Ryan, and the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Royston Brady, were chosen unanimously to contest the Dublin constituency for Fianna Fáil. Cllr Brady has raised his profile dramatically in recent months by a number of public comments, including sharp criticism of Dublin City Council.
In Munster, Fine Gael Cork South Central TD Mr Simon Coveney has confirmed that he will seek a nomination to run for Europe when the party's selection convention takes place on February 29th.
The 31-year-old TD said he believes it is important that Fine Gael mounts the best possible campaign it can in the upcoming European and local elections.
"It is important that we prove to a quite sceptical public that Fine Gael is a force to be reckoned with after a very disappointing general election result," he told The Irish Times.
Cork North Central TD Mr Bernard Allen said he had told the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, "two weeks ago" that he would not be running. "I told him to come back to me if he was stuck, but he isn't," Mr Allen said yesterday."
Fine Gael has yet to decide if it will run one or two candidates in the South constituency, which lost a seat because of the Boundary Review Commission's work and the cut in Ireland's total number of MEPs to 13.
Former Limerick West TD Senator Michael Finucane has not formally declared an interest in running, though he said last month he would be interested if he was given a satisfactory division of the constituency.
