Councils' decision to vote on candidature boosts Nally prospects

Mr Derek Nally's chances of securing a nomination for the presidential race have grown with the decision of seven local authorities to vote on his candidature. The prospects for the president of Victim Support and former Garda leader becoming the only man in the race Aras will largely depend on the decision of county councillors in Clare, who are to vote on his nomination on Friday.

This vote is likely to set the tone for ballots in six more councils next Monday. These have been called in Louth, Cork, Wexford, Carlow, Kildare and Kilkenny. Mr Nally needs the support of four local authorities.

However, Fianna Fail dealt Mr Nally's burgeoning campaign a blow yesterday by confirming that its county councillors have been instructed not to vote for him. The general secretary, Mr Pat Farrell, advised councillors that a whip had been imposed, now that the party had selected its candidate.

Councillors who voted to allow Dana to stand, and now have to recast their votes to regularise her nomination, are exempted from the whip. Last week the 13 Fianna Fail members of Galway County Council voted 13-10 to defeat Mr Nally's nomination.

Mr Nally, who spent yesterday canvassing councillors by telephone from his campaign headquarters in Naas, said he had received offers of support from members of all political parties as well as from independents.

He dismissed claims that he was trying to take advantage of the lack of a man in the field. "Nothing could be further from the truth. I was in the race when Albert Reynolds, Michael D. Higgins and John Hume were running or thinking of running."

His campaign would be based on "a lifetime of public service and a desire to serve my country", he said. Mr Nally founded Victim Support in 1983 and has worked extensively with the elderly and with youth groups. "My age - I'm a young 60 - brings with it the advantages of experience and wisdom."

A native of Holycross, Co Tipperary, Mr Nally joined the Garda Siochana in 1957. He served in the Wexford division until 1971, and then moved to the press relations office. From 1973 he was general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors for a decade, and earned a reputation as a skilled negotiator and trade union representative.

In 1982 the AGSI conference adopted a motion recommending legal changes to make extradition easier, a move which enraged the then Fianna Fail government. Mr Nally's relations with the party have been strained ever since.

As far back as 1983 he called for political abuses to be treated as criminal acts. "Is it not time that we asked ourselves if the abuse of power by elected representatives for possible personal gain is as much a criminal act, requiring at least the same treatment as a penniless man or woman found begging who is liable to be sentenced to one month in jail?"

He retired from the Garda at the age of 50 in 1987 to set up a security consultancy. Currently he is managing director of the Securway group of companies, which includes a private detective business.

Mr Nally describes himself as "middle of the road" on law and order. Social conditions have a major effect on criminality, he says, and need to be tackled before the rise in crime can be stemmed.

He says offences such as begging and vagrancy should be decriminalised, drug-abusers should be treated compassionately, but drug-dealers should be heavily punished.

Asked about his views on the right to life, Mr Nally says this is a complex issue which is being considered by the Government. "A presidential candidate should be seen as totally neutral in this."