Some thoughts on the Independent Alliance Candidates announced Yesterday June 30, 2015
Posted by irishelectionliterature in Irish Politics.trackback
A number of new candidate were announced by The Shane Ross chaired Independent Alliance yesterday.
There were some interesting names among them with a number of decent prospects for seats.
Early days yet but you’d think Carol Hunt would find it difficult to win in the effective 3 seat Dun Laoghaire. That said the only sure thing here is that there will be a Fine Gael seat.
Tuam based Sean Canney in Galway East has a good chance, he polled 5,567 votes in the 2011 Election and once again topped the poll in the Local Elections. Has a decent chance.
Niamh Kennedy topped the poll in the local elections and is highly thought of. Geography is also on her side as currently there are no candidates in her locality. Donegal will be hotly contested but again in with a chance of a seat, possibly at the expense of Thomas Pringle.
Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran is another one who polled well at the last election, the Longford Westmeath By Election and also the Local Elections. Moran is an ex FFer and there is currently a row in FF over running an Athlone based candidate. Were FF to run just a Longford based candidate along with Robert Troy then Moran who is Athlone based would be well placed.
Kevin Callan , a councillor who was elected for Fine Gael in 2014, will be running in Louth. Not a great chance of taking a seat.
Deirdre O’Donovan was one of a number of Ross endorsed candidates elected at the Local Elections polling over 1500 votes in Rathfarnham. She is running in Dublin South West, she may do well but will be hampered by the fact that five of the six councillors elected for Rathfarnham in 2011 will be running in Dublin South West.
We’ll see who else will nail their colours to the Ross mast….
Re this Alliance, I can see whats in it for Ross and the other ccurrent TD’s, in that they fancy being in government…. but what’s the point of being an Independent Alliance ‘backbencher’ ? You might have access to a Minister, but surely you are just lobby fodder like most backbenchers?
The Cedar Lounge Revolution 
Carol Hunt is a Sindo journalist, no? Dún Laoghaire could indeed elect her. Because Dún Laoghaire.
On your last bit about what’s in it for Ross and the other TD’s. I thought his/their line is that they don’t want to be in government but that they’ll take clear positions on issues from the backbenches and support or not support a government based on those. So they would all be backbenchers?
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Ross wants to be a Minister, can’t see why else he’d launch this. I’m still not sure as to the concept of the Alliance, but why would they support a government without getting some reward for doing so?
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“why would they support a government without getting some reward for doing so?”
I think their answer to that would be ‘because we are not in politics to get some reward’. I don’t believe them for a minute. But does anyone else remember Ross saying, when he launched this, that he/they weren’t interested in a seat at the cabinet table?
Come on here Shane and explain yourself!
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Does Carol Hunt not live in our direction WBS? a long way from Dún Laoighaire physically not mentally.
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I think she is originally from Blackrock.
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I thought she lived in Ballybough as well. She’s written a couple of columns about what it’s like to live there.
Whatever chance she might have had in the old Dun Laoghaire five-seater, hard to see her making it in what is now, in effect, a three-seater.
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The water charges protests of late 2014 were highly effective. Not only did they curb some of the sharper elements of the water tax but they provided one or two Damascene conversions.
No more so than Cllr. Kevin Callan of Drogheda who was a vocal proponent of water charges up until 1 November when 8,000 people on the streets of Drogheda convinced him that it was the wrong policy all along and he resigned from FG within an hour of the protest ending.
He’s a hard Right ideological conservative. Thankfully, he hasn’t a chance.
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2 ex-ffs, 3 ex-fg, 9 always Independent, 1 former workers party 1 INM afaik
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