Former senator and brother of Hanafin pushes for her Dáil nomination

The brother of former Fianna Fáil minister Mary Hanafin has been urging TDs to hold the Dáil selection convention for the Dún Laoghaire constituency as soon as possible, and to select Ms Hanafin as the candidate.

John Hanafin, a former senator, has told Fianna Fáil TDs that the party’s best chance of securing a Dáil seat is to nominate his sister as the candidate in the constituency, which falls from a five- to a four-seater for the next general election.

However, the constituency is effectively a tight three-seater the next time out since Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett, who represents Dún Laoghaire, will be automatically returned.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin wants selection conventions to begin next month to allow candidates as much time as possible to establish themselves before the election, but party sources said Dún Laoghaire was likely to be left until last.

They also pointed to other alternative candidates, such as Jennifer Cuffe, a councillor for the Killiney and Shankill electoral area.

Ms Hanafin was at the centre of controversy in the constituency earlier this year when the party asked her to stand in the local elections but then asked her not to. The former Minister for Education stood anyway and was comfortably elected.

Her brother John has told Fianna Fáil deputies the best chance of winning a Dáil seat in the constituency is to nominate Ms Hanafin, and he repeated this to The Irish Times.

“The only one who can win a seat for Fianna Fáil is Mary and it is as simple as that,” he said. “The old untruth that previous members were hated – that’s gone.”

For her part, Ms Hanafin said she would be putting her name forward for the nomination, and she was already attending events and functions and working outside her council electoral area, preparing the ground for a Dáil run.