Clare Labour Selection Convention

[Billydekid]

The Labour Party in Clare has now set the date for their Selection Convention on 6th October and Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald is glad that the date is now set. “It has been no secret that I intend to run and now I’m glad that I will be able to officially start the campaign”.

Pascal intends to run on the “Rabbitte Ticket” with a clear message of “A vote for me is a vote against the current government”. Pascal expects this is what will differentiate him from other independent and opposition candidates. “There is a seat in Clare for either Labour, the Greens or a non-Fianna Fail independent. With the Greens sitting on the fence, only a vote for me will ensure that the person you vote for will not prop up a Fianna Fail government after the election”. This is the practical effect of the decision made by Pat Rabbitte and passed at the Labour Party’s National Conference that Labour will not go into coalition with Fianna Fail after the election.

Pascal’s main slogan will be “Make your protest vote count”. By saying this Pascal is reminding people that a protest vote for an independent may still result in a Fianna Fail government, but a protest vote for Labour will ensure that the numbers exist to form an alternative government.

The last time Clare returned a Labour TD was in 1992 when Moosajee Bhamjee was elected on the “Spring Tide”. This was also the last election which resulted in a non-Fianna Fail government. “Clare is a litmus test constituency”, Pascal says, “if we win here, we are in government”.

[magic_norhan]

I'm a labour member and supporter but wouldn't be impressed by people like this.

Instead of saying - We will oust FF, We are not FF, why not say what Labour will do in Government

This negativity about everything the government while not actually spelling out we can and will be a real alternative is not going to win us seats.

We should set our own agenda not be playing to the agenda "We are not FF"

We need to be positive about the real changes that we can bring in to show that we are a real alternative

I also find the assertion that the 1992 election resulted in a non Fianna Fail Government hilarious. Where was Mr Fitzgerald between 1992 and 1994?

[Billydekid]

Pascal has been very positive in his contributions since he was elected to Clare CC and is not a negative guy. However, it is very important to many people that those responsible for this unfair society are not returned to power. Because he will have some “negative campaigning” it does not exclude the possibility of positive campaigning also.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but the change of government on 1994 did not involve a general election and therefore my comment that "the 1992 was the last election which resulted in a non-Fianna Fail government" is accurate. I find it hilarious that you have forgotten the great damage our two years in bed with FF did to our support. It is exactly the experience of 1992 that proves the value of the “get them out” approach being adopted by Pascal.

[martin TYRONE]

I often wondered about Bamjees election-----were voters overcompensating for their prejudices by electing a coloured man----Michael Corley who has taught thousands of people in his 30+ years as a scool teacher in Ennis never got anywhere as the Labour candidate,and by many many accounts Corley is a very honest,hardworking , intelligent and sociable man---whats the story??

[doheochai]

I often wondered about Bamjees election-----were voters overcompensating for their prejudices by electing a coloured man----Michael Corley who has taught thousands of people in his 30+ years as a scool teacher in Ennis never got anywhere as the Labour candidate,and by many many accounts Corley is a very honest,hardworking , intelligent and sociable man---whats the story??

Bhamjee was elected as part of the so-called 'Spring tide'. However, the indications were clearly there, prior to 1992, that a Labour seat could be won. There was a general mood of opposition to both FF and FG in the region during this period. As a member of the LP at the time, I argued as early as 1989 that Labour could win the seat. Interestingly, Bhamjee was shocked when he won. He didn't actually want to win, being more interested in the promise of a Senate seat after the election.

In the aftermath of the election the mood of support for Labour quickly disappeared, firstly as a result of the LP going in with FF and secondly because of the treble-jobbing of Bhamjee himself. Bhamjee clearly saw the writing on the wall in 1997 and chose not to run. Since them Labour have been a non-entity in Clare politics. The mantle of the opposition to the established norm has passed to Meaney and the Greens, who will most likely go the same road as the LP after the next election.

Corley never got anywhere precisely because of the damage done to Labour post 1992. He was elected in the 1991 locals and then suffered in the backlash against Labour in 1997. If Corley had been to the fore earlier than Bhamjee it could have been different for him on a personal political level - but he would most likely have gone the same way as so many other LP TD's in 1997.

[Billydekid]

I think situations like Bhamjees are almost impossible to explain. Spring tide has to be something to do with it.

With Corley, I suppose some people are electable and some are not, despite their competence. (Infact, I would have thought the Lord High Executioner, Michael McDowell, Barrister at Law, TD, Minister, Deity (in his eyes) and possibly PD party leader would have fallen into that category). Apologies to Corley, I am not comparing you to McDowell, just saying that the common touch is important. Bertie proves this point. In nearly all respects, it is more important than competence.

[jonna]

The Labour Party in Clare has now set the date for their Selection Convention on 6th October and Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald is glad that the date is now set. “It has been no secret that I intend to run and now I’m glad that I will be able to officially start the campaign”.

Pascal intends to run on the “Rabbitte Ticket” with a clear message of “A vote for me is a vote against the current government”. Pascal expects this is what will differentiate him from other independent and opposition candidates. “There is a seat in Clare for either Labour, the Greens or a non-Fianna Fail independent. With the Greens sitting on the fence, only a vote for me will ensure that the person you vote for will not prop up a Fianna Fail government after the election”. This is the practical effect of the decision made by Pat Rabbitte and passed at the Labour Party’s National Conference that Labour will not go into coalition with Fianna Fail after the election.

Pascal’s main slogan will be “Make your protest vote count”. By saying this Pascal is reminding people that a protest vote for an independent may still result in a Fianna Fail government, but a protest vote for Labour will ensure that the numbers exist to form an alternative government.

The last time Clare returned a Labour TD was in 1992 when Moosajee Bhamjee was elected on the “Spring Tide”. This was also the last election which resulted in a non-Fianna Fail government. “Clare is a litmus test constituency”, Pascal says, “if we win here, we are in government”.

Pascal should not have been selected in my opinion....An appearance on a reality TV show doesn't make one a good politician....
Not living in the Clare area, but still I would have thought that Paul O'Shea should have been the automatic candidate to stand for Labour, given the poll that was run on Clare F.m.
Listening to it on the internet, Paul came out as the most popular candidate to stand for election in Clare..bearing in mind that the radio poll was not about Lab. It was a general cross party poll...So why did Lab ignore this? Why did Lab go with the man who appeared on TV?
Was Pat Rabbitte afraid of a candidate who was truely left wing as O'Shea is? Did he think that Pascal would toe the line and agree with him and therefore stick to the Rabbitte agenda?
I have a sneaking suspicion that Rabbitte was involved in some way with the selection of Pascal..and didn't want O'Shea to stand (even though he is clearly the right candidate to attract votes)
I guarantee Pascal will be eliminated early in the count....

jonna

[Fnarr-Fnarr]

“There is a seat in Clare for either Labour, the Greens or a non-Fianna Fail independent. With the Greens sitting on the fence, only a vote for me will ensure that the person you vote for will not prop up a Fianna Fail government after the election”.

You can accuse Brian Meaney of many things, but sitting on the fence is not one of them!

[newFF]

“There is a seat in Clare for either Labour, the Greens or a non-Fianna Fail independent. With the Greens sitting on the fence, only a vote for me will ensure that the person you vote for will not prop up a Fianna Fail government after the election”.

You can accuse Brian Meaney of many things, but sitting on the fence is not one of them!

No definitely not. Meaney is the man who disagreed with official Green party policy on Shannon and did a u-turn on the Ennis Bypass (nice pun there but unintended).

[KeithM]

“There is a seat in Clare for either Labour, the Greens or a non-Fianna Fail independent. With the Greens sitting on the fence, only a vote for me will ensure that the person you vote for will not prop up a Fianna Fail government after the election”.

You can accuse Brian Meaney of many things, but sitting on the fence is not one of them!

No definitely not. Meaney is the man who disagreed with official Green party policy on Shannon and did a u-turn on the Ennis Bypass (nice pun there but unintended).

Clare is a real weather vain constituency and I have to agree with the honesty of the Labour poster earlier on this thread who said that their candidate would be eliminated early in the race. It's 2 FF and 1 FG and then the real race. If FG cannot knock out the independent and regain their second seat then FG are in trouble. This is a west of the Shannon constituency where Kenny should actually be an asset.