Fitzpatrick seeks Ahern meeting over letter

Campaign tactics:The defeated Fianna Fáil candidate in Dublin Central, Cllr Mary Fitzpatrick, has requested a meeting with the Taoiseach to discuss why a letter was sent out urging voters to pass on their second preferences to her party rival, Senator Cyprian Brady.

Cllr Fitzpatrick was only 161 votes behind Senator Brady when she was eliminated on the fifth count, a result she directly attributes to the letter which was sent to constituents on the morning of the election.

It urged Fianna Fáil supporters to give their number one vote to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, their second preference to Mr Brady and their third preference to Ms Fitzpatrick. The letter was addressed from St Luke's, Mr Ahern's constituency office in Drumcondra.

Senator Brady polled only 939 first-preference votes as opposed to 1,725 for Cllr Fitzpatrick, but he pulled ahead of her on the second count when he got 1,041 more transfers from Mr Ahern.

"It really played a part if you look at what the end result was. There was 161 votes between us. It's a very small percentage of the total votes cast," she said.

"The whole campaign was such that I think a lot of people have commented on it. It was Ahern, Brady and Fitzpatrick, with me very much positioned third. If it was Fianna Fáil's strategy to have me as the third candidate, nobody ever told me that."

Cllr Fitzpatrick and her supporters made no secret of their annoyance at the count centre, but she said she would not apportion blame for the debacle until she had spoken to Mr Ahern.

"This disappointment will take quite a while to wear off. I gave up my job about a year and a half ago so I could pursue this on a full-time basis. I think there is still a future for me in the constituency. It is not about anybody anymore because we have the result that we have. My priority is not to look back. It's completely counter-productive."

Cllr Fitzpatrick, who was elected as a councillor in 2004, said she intends to stay within Fianna Fáil and would accept a Senate nomination. "If that works for the party, I probably wouldn't have any problem with it."