Former Cork Fianna Fáil TD rules out election run

Former Fianna Fáil Cork North Central TD, Noel O'Flynn has ruled out running in the forthcoming general election following a health scare and discussions with his family.

Mr O’Flynn said that he had consulted widely, telephoning around 1,000 of his supporters throughout the autumn and most had indicated that he should run as an independent.

However he discussed the matter with his family over Christmas and had decided not to stand in the general election.

Speaking on The Neil Prendeville Show on Cork's Red FM, Mr O'Flynn, who represented Cork North Central from 1997 until 2011, said his decision not to contest the election was due to health concerns after he collapsed while on holidays in Spain last year.

Mr O’Flynn said that he has since recovered but has decided not to run.

“I don’t think at this stage of my life that I need to bring any more stress on me and in politics you need to be focussed .... you have go at it full time and you have to be fully committed.”

Mr O’Flynn said that he found since his health scare he didn’t have the same “hunger to go back into poitics” and he was now going to take some more time off to assess matters.

“A question you would have to ask yourself is ‘How many summers we have left?’ Only God can tell you that and at this hour of my life, maybe I should be taking it easier rather than getting into the fray and stressing myself out again.”

Last September, Mr O’Flynn announced that he was leaving Fianna Fáil which he had joined in 1978 after growing increasingly dissatisfied with party leader and fellow Corkman, Micheál Martin.

Mr O'Flynn had previously said that Mr Martin was "an interim leader" and he was still closely associated with the regimes of both Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen with whom he served in cabinet.

“I voted for Micheál Martin in the leadership. But I said three years ago that he was an interim leader and I am still of that view,” said Mr O’Flynn.

“Micheál has the same difficulty (as Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen) because he was in government for 14 years and sat at the cabinet table,” he said.

Mr O’Flynn said he agreed not to run in 2011 following a request from Mr Martin as Mr Martin believed the party had a better chance of winning a seat by running a single candidate.

He said he was appalled what has happened to Fianna Fáil over the past few years and said the party had failed to attract public support since the last general election.

“Look at what has happened with Fianna Fáil since 2011 - they have no traction, they have no identity, their policies are not acceptable to the public,” he said.