PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL David Norris’s candidacy suffered a major blow last night as the election workers of South Tipperary Independent TD Mattie McGrath voted 53-18 against a nomination for the Trinity College Dublin Senator.
The vote came at the end of a two-hour meeting in Cahir, Co Tipperary.
“It’s pretty overwhelming,” Deputy McGrath told The Irish Times afterwards. He said he would abide by the decision of the meeting despite his previous personal inclination to sign the Senator’s nomination papers.
“They are my people, I would not be anywhere without them,” he said.
He was “poles apart” from Sen Norris politically but, prior to last night’s vote, he had been minded to “allow him into the democratic process” of electing a president.
However, he would not go against the people who went out “knocking on doors” for him at election-time.
No comment was available from the Norris campaign last night.
Sen Norris needed a minimum of 20 Oireachtas members to nominate him before he could become an official candidate in the election on October 27th.
His only option now is to seek nomination from three more county or city councils. He already has one, from Fingal, and four are required.
Eighteen TDs and Senators had agreed to nominate him. The latest was Independent Dublin South TD Shane Ross, who is a former senatorial colleague on the Trinity College panel.
Sen Ross stressed that, in political terms, he supports the candidacy of Labour nominee Michael D Higgins.
If Mr McGrath had agreed to nominate Sen Norris, it was understood that Tipperary North Independent TD and former Fine Gael minister Michael Lowry might have followed suit.
Sources in the Norris campaign team had expressed confidence that Mr Lowry would “do the right thing” if the Senator received 19 other names.
Earlier, Mr McGrath said he was still undecided. He was due to meet supporters at 8.15pm at the Shamrock Lounge in Cahir, Co Tipperary. He had heard “all kinds of mixed views” from constituents on the matter, ranging from “outright hostility to outright support” for the Norris nomination.
His inclination was to “try and facilitate” Sen Norris, but he was getting “pretty hostile” reaction to that in some quarters.
Meanwhile, Trinity Senator Ivana Bacik said she had already nominated Michael D Higgins and Oireachtas members were not permitted to sign the papers for a second candidate.
She had explained this to Sen Norris’s supporters who had e-mailed and telephoned her to facilitate his presidential bid.
“David is a good friend of mine and would be my preferred choice for president if Michael D doesn’t win,” she said.
Sen Norris’s prospects may have been affected by a Sunday newspaper report that he had written at least six other letters in 1997 seeking clemency for ex-partner Ezra Nawi, who was facing a charge of statutory rape in Israel.
A spokesman for Sen Norris confirmed last night that the Senator had written to then-president of Israel, Ezer Weizman, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli ambassador to Ireland Zvi Gabay, special adviser to president Mary Robinson, Bride Rosney, and the late Conor Cruise O’Brien.
“The letters are practically identical to what has already been published,” the Senator’s spokesman said.
“We need to move on in the campaign, this is old news.”
The other option open to Sen Norris is to obtain nominations from three other councils.
Dana Rosemary Scallon is also seeking council nominations.