Hogan to resign Dáil seat to take EU agriculture post

Ireland’s new EU commissioner Phil Hogan is resigning his Dáil seat for Carlow-Kilkenny with effect from tomorrow.

Mr Hogan yesterday notified the Clerk of the Dáil of his intention to resign.

He will formally take up duty as EU commissioner for Agriculture on Saturday along with the incoming commission which has been approved by the European Parliament.

Mr Hogan, who was Minister for the Environment from 2011 until July of this year has been a TD for Carlow-Kilkenny since 1989. He served as a Senator for two years before that.

Last night he thanked the people of Carlow-Kilkenny for expressing their confidence in him since 1987 and also thanked Taoiseach Enda Kenny for nominating him first as minister for the environment and then as EU commissioner. “I hope to justify that faith, and continue to serve the people of Ireland, as I set out on a new political journey in Europe,” he said.

Mr Kenny thanked Mr Hogan for his 27 years of service in the Oireachtas and wished him well in his new role.

The byelection to fill the vacancy will have to be held within six months. It is likely to be held in late Spring on the same date as several referendums recommended by the constitutional convention.

The outcome of the byelection will be critical for all of the Dáil parties with a general election likely before the end of 2015.

The early front runner for the Fine Gael nomination is Senator Pat O’Neill from Bennettsbridge, but he is likely to face stiff internal competition.

Cllr David Fitzgerald from Kilkenny city will have strong support while former Irish Farmers’ Association president John Bryan – who considered running for Fine Gael in the European elections – is another possibility.

There is also likely to be a battle on the Fianna Fáil side. Sitting TD John McGuinness who is based in Kilkenny city is believed to favour the selection of a candidate from another part of the constituency.

Former TD Bobby Aylward, who lost his seat at the last election, would be a strong candidate while Carlow county councillor Jennifer Murnane-O’Connor could also be in the running.

Labour did very poorly in the constituency in the local elections and will find it difficult to come up with a candidate capable of winning a reasonable vote.

The Sinn Féin candidate is expected to be Kathleen Funchion, who polled almost 10 per cent of the vote at the last election.

The Green Party will almost certainly run Cllr Malcolm Noonan, who was elected in the city last May and has made a name for himself campaigning against the central access scheme for the city.

Conor MacLiam of the Socialist Party polled more than 1,000 votes in the general election and is expected to run again.

Seven Independents ran in the last election and a number of them can be expected to contest the vacancy.