CEANN COMHAIRLE RESIGNATION:OUTGOING CEANN Comhairle John O'Donoghue will stand for re-election in Kerry South, former Fianna Fáil TD and constituency colleague John O'Leary has said.
Mr O'Leary, a former Kerry South TD, was speaking yesterday on local radio amid growing speculation that Mr O'Donoghue would leave politics, creating a vacancy in the three-seat constituency.
Mr O'Donoghue, had he remained as Ceann Comhairle in an outgoing Dáil, would automatically have been re-elected.
Mr O'Leary contacted Radio Kerry yesterday morning to say he had the blessing of Mr O'Donoghue in revealing his intentions. Mr O'Donoghue told him in a telephone conversation on Thursday evening he was "standing for re-election in south Kerry, definitely".
He was going to let it up to the people of south Kerry to decide whether it was right to get him out of office without a hearing before the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, Mr O'Leary said. He added that the Ceann Comhairle was feeling down.
Speaking later on Newstalk, Mr O'Leary said the people of south Kerry could not understand why Mr O'Donoghue was not allowed to go before the commission and defend himself in the interest of natural justice.
"After all, out in darkest Africa they'd give a fella some sort of trial before they'd execute him, and Jesus, even back in the time of the Black and Tans they'd nearly give a fella some bit of a trial before they'd hang him. John was allowed no chance at all at all to defend himself. That is the feeling."
He also said John O'Donoghue needed 10 staff as opposed to the three Rory O'Hanlon had because "Rory O'Hanlon wouldn't be dealing with a fraction of the constituency work that John O'Donoghue would be dealing with from south Kerry".
Mr O'Leary was elected in 1966 and shared the constituency with Mr O'Donoghue for 10 years until he retired in 1997 and Fianna Fáil lost a seat to Jackie Healy-Rae.
Fianna Fáil backbenchers Séamus Kirk and Seán Ardagh remained at the centre of speculation yesterday as possible successors to Mr O'Donoghue as ceann comhairle.
Observers said Fianna Fáil parliamentary party chairman Mr Kirk "ticked all the boxes", while others said Mr Ardagh had yet to be adequately rewarded for his loyalty to the party.
Leas-Cheann Comhairle Brendan Howlin said two Cabinet Ministers spoke to him about the matter this week.
"I was approached by two members of Cabinet to check whether my stated position that I had no interest in being ceann comhairle remained the case and I have confirmed that this is my firm resolve," he said.
Mr Howlin stressed he had casually met the two Ministers on separate occasions on Wednesday evening. He said he was "honoured and content" to retain his current role as Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin was asked if she would consider taking the position when she spoke to reporters in Dublin yesterday.
"Well, there hasn't been a woman ceann comhairle . . . but I am very committed to my work as a Minister," Ms Hanafin said.
Ms Hanafin was asked because her Dún Laoghaire constituency was one of many constituencies where a Fianna Fáil seat could prove vulnerable in a general election. The Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews is the other Fianna Fáil TD in the constituency, which is being reduced from a five-seater to a four-seater.
Among the other constituencies that have been mentioned as being vulnerable from a Fianna Fáil perspective include Louth, Dublin South Central, Cavan/Monaghan, Galway West, and Dublin South.
Speculation that a Fine Gael figure might be interested in the post was played down by a Fine Gael spokesman.
"Brian Cowen would be breaking with the habit of a lifetime if he offered Fine Gael a political advantage that he didn't have to," he said.