MIRIAM LORD'S WEEK:The race for the Fine Gael presidential nomination continues at a ferocious pace. At one point this week Gay Mitchell, Pat Cox, Avril Doyle and Mairead McGuinness were all haunting the members' bar.
“A man can’t have a drink in peace here any more,” wailed one deputy, who abandoned the normally quiet TDs’ bolt-hole to mix with the great unwashed in the visitors’ bar. “Avril is galloping around inside there – all she’s missing is the jodhpurs and whip.”
While most attention has focused on Cox and Mitchell, Mairead McGuinness has been quietly going about her business, touring the country to drum up support. It appears to be working. Word is that “Big Phil” Hogan is making positive noises, and a number of backbench deputies have indicated that she has their vote. Her strong showing in an opinion poll this week has also boosted her campaign.
“Mairead has been running beneath the radar so far, but she’s fighting this like it was a war. I wouldn’t write her off,” says a supporter.
The Louth-based MEP met Minister for Arts Jimmy Deenihan in Ardee on Thursday, when he signed her nomination papers.
The candidates will have to win over the parliamentary party to have any chance of getting the nomination. TDs account for 70 per cent of the vote, councillors are responsible for 20 per cent and the remaining 10 per cent comes from the party’s national executive.
The decision will be made on Saturday, July 9th, at a party meeting at the Red Cow Moran Hotel.