WHO CAN CLAIM DÁIL THRONE IN FIERCE BATTLE OF THE BAY?
DUBLIN BAY SOUTH GAME OF THRONES BEGINS
THE great by-election race is under way and in another Dublin Bay South drama, the Greens are fighting before a candidate has been chosen, while Fine Gael are gearing up for a battle royal and Sinn Fein are struggling to find a candidate.
Meanwhile, at least one current and one possible future party leader are under serious pressure in the constituency.
Below we profile the initial cast of characters in Irish politics’ latest answer to ‘Game of Thrones’.
THE EARLY FRONT-RUNNER: HAZEL CHU
Hazel Chu, below, has emerged as the early favourite to win a second seat for the Greens in the Dublin Bay South by-election.
But the Dublin Lord Mayor, who recently ran in the Seanad byelection as an Independent, may have to defeat her own party if she is to get into the field.
A party source said: ‘Hazel is how they like them in Dublin Bay South. She is in fashion for now. Her problem is that running for the Greens is like being tethered to a dead animal.’
Separately a battle royal is set to break out within Fine Gael for what is seen as a blue seat.
JAMES GEOGHEGAN, LAW LIBRARY SILK
Outside of Dublin Bay South, few will have heard of the new councillor and rising barrister James Geoghegan, left, but he is expected to contend strongly.
After a brief flirtation with Lucinda Creighton’s Renua party, Mr Geoghegan was accepted back into the Fine Gael fold and is politically close to the departing Mr Murphy.
KATE, THE ICE QUEEN
Kate O’Connell, who narrowly lost her seat in 2020 has managed to maintain a high public profile but concerns are escalating over the inside run of Mr Geoghegan.
The former Fine Gael TD has insisted there is ‘no ill feeling’ between her and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar after his controversial decision not to select her for the Seanad election.
However, she launched a blistering attack on him on RTÉ radio last month and asked ‘when he’s going to start delivering’ for the party?
Sources close to Mr Varadkar believe that ‘the ice queen [right], will not be coming back: that’s the message we will be sending to putative rebels.’
A MARY SEERY COMPROMISE
Should the battle become too intense, it is believed the innocuous Mary Seery Kearney, below, a first-term senator might be chosen as a compromise.
One party source noted: ‘She was initially being targeted at the working-class constituency of Dublin South Central but really our people [Dublin Bay South] are much more her sort of people.’
Commenting on Ms Seery Kearney, they added: ‘She’s a Tánaiste’s pick and doesn’t really appear to stand for anything much. She’s perfect.’
BACIK FIGHTS THE LABOUR BRAND
Labour is expected to field Ivana Bacik now that its wily battler Kevin Humphries has escaped the fray.
Ivana, right, is certainly keen, but one source noted: ‘She is perfect on one level, part of the Portobello demi monde set, but the times are not right.
‘She is very nice, very clever. Ivana’s difficulty is that Labour is a dead brand in Dublin Bay South.’
THE OUTSIDER: LYNN BOYLAN
The election is also expected to pose a real test of the bona-fides of the Sinn Féin surge with one figure noting: ‘if Chris Andrews is the best man we have, then there is a talent problem. It is both an opportunity and a challenge for Mary Lou [McDonald].’
Lynn Boylan, right, is being groomed for a different constituency but when your party is riding so high in the polls can you really run the risk of not running your best candidate?
THE WILD CARD MICHAEL MCDOWELL
When it comes to alternatives to the main parties, the chief interest for now will focus on Michael McDowell, right, the former TD for the constituency.
He is, as one figure said, ‘a sort of lion in winter in the Seanad. If he is tempted to come roaring back all bets will be off.’
The question for McDowell is whether ‘Vengeance Bejaysus’ is really worth leaving the Seanad club for a reprise of his ancient ‘up the ladder’ wars with John Gormley.
EAMON RYAN’S CHU DILEMMA
One senior source said Eamon Ryan knows that a Chu candidacy would spell the end of his Dáil career.
He knows, they said, ‘he would be writing his political death notice’.
The problem though, they added, is that: ‘if he stops her she would romp home as a Social Democrat or an Independent. Better in than out, as they say.’
A ‘BIG’ JIM WIN?
Within Fianna Fáil, a closer eye will be kept on ‘Big’ Jim O’Callaghan, right, than whoever the candidate might be. One source in the party said this is the rebel Fianna Fáil TD’s chance ‘to show he can lead us to victory in Dublin’ in his own stomping ground of Dublin Bay South.