THE FIANNA Fáil subcommittee on the presidential election is to meet for the first time today at Leinster House where it is expected to recommend against running an internal party candidate.
This would reflect a feeling at senior level that the chances of success are so slim that they would not justify the expense of having a Fianna Fáil contender on the ballot paper.
The cost of running a candidate is estimated at between €500,000 and €700,000 and the party already owes close to €2.4 million in bank debt.
The party press office said last night the subcommittee meeting would be held in private and there would be no news conference or other media contact afterwards.
The subcommittee is expected to forward its recommendation to the parliamentary party, which meets on Wednesday.
Party whip and Kildare South TD Seán Ó Fearghail told RTÉ Radio 1’s This Week programme yesterday the 36-member parliamentary party was “ultimately the decision-making body”.
“I couldn’t pre-empt what’s going to come out of this but I do know, looking at the polls that have been published and following them pretty closely, that the prospects of an internal Fianna Fáil candidate coming anywhere near winning this competition are remote.
“So we have to face the reality of that. That is not to say that there may not yet be further independent candidates entering the fray between now and the closing date for nominations.”
The process was set in train in July and the six-member subcommittee was established: “The subcommittee will consider in detail all the possible options that face us and will come up with, I hope, a unanimous agreement on a recommendation to the parliamentary party on Wednesday.”
Regarding party leader Micheál Martin’s unsuccessful approach to Gay Byrne, he said it was “absolutely appropriate” because the broadcaster “would have been a very credible candidate”.
He said there was “no correlation” between the contact with Mr Byrne and the question of choosing an internal candidate.
“Independent polling has indicated that an internal Fianna Fáil candidate was not going to be at the races in terms of winning the presidency.
“Therefore the subcommittee has to face the reality of that and decide whether or not we want to enter a contest knowing, before we enter it, that the prospects of winning are remote.” He added: “The rebuilding, renewal and restoration of Fianna Fáil’s relationship with the Irish people is a medium-term project.
“It is one that is going to be worked at in a determined and systematic way. It is not something that we are going to rush into.
“The leader has set out a plan of renewal. He’s doing that systematically across the country by engaging first and foremost with the membership.
“To lead us into a presidential campaign where the outcome was likely to be negative would not do anything to boost and improve the morale of Fianna Fáil at the current time,” Mr Ó Fearghail said.
