IN A further shock to the Fine Gael party, the Minister for State for Finance, Mr Hugh Coveney, last night failed to win a nomination to contest the Cork South Central constituency for the party at the next election.
Later, Mr Coveney said that he would have to consider his future in politics.
At a constituency selection convention, Mr Coveney was defeated by a local councillor, Mr Sylvester Cotter and Mrs Deirdre Clune who is the eldest daughter of the former deputy leader of Fine Gael, Mr Peter Barry.
Mr Barry has represented the Cork South Central constituency as a Fine Gael TD since 1969 but has announced his intention to retire at the next election.
Mrs Clune has been a member of the party for 10 years but only recently decided to follow her father and seek a full time career in politics.
Although Mr Coveney is expected to be added to the Fine Gael ticket by the party's national executive, his failure to secure a nomination at local level will come as a further blow to the party. He has been particularly close to the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, and has been Mr Bruton's representative at the Northern peace talks in Belfast.
Mr Coveney was first elected to the Dail in 1981. He lost and regained his seat in the two elections of the following year, only to lose it again to the Progressive Democrats in 1987.
He was returned to the Dail in a 1994 by election and was appointed minister for defence and the marine where he became embroied in controversy over proposed defence forces cuts.
In May 1995 he resigned his ministerial post following newspaper reports that he had approached the chairman of Bord Gais about consultancy for his firm of quantity surveyors.
At the time, the Taoiseach told the Dail he was demoting Mr Coveney, not because he believed he was unfit for office, but because he had made a mistake for which he had to be held accountable.
Mr Coveney is married with seven children and lives on his 250 acre farm at Minane Bridge, outside Cork.
