Post by Papa C. on Aug 11, 2008 15:48:15 GMT
Keeping it in the family as usual. No surprise. I wonder can they claim extra subsidies for this like they can by employing family members in constituency offices. Every member of the EU parliament gets 100,000 for employing a member of their family. Irish TDs get similar grants.
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By Senan Molony Deputy Political Editor
Monday August 11 2008
THE eldest son of Seamus Brennan is tipped to seek Fianna Fail nomination for his late father's seat with Senator Maria Corrigan waiting in the wings.
Seamus Brennan Jr is thought likely to seek the Fianna Fail nomination for the Dublin South by-election.
The eldest of six children, he is the obvious choice should the family seek to hold onto the seat for the party. The family of Mr Brennan is continuing to keep its counsel, having hosted the Month's Mind Mass and a subsequent clan gathering at the weekend. Sources said the succession was not publicly discussed at a post-ceremony reception in the Goat Pub.
Cllr Maria Corrigan, who has twice unsuccessfully contested the Dail, is waiting in the wings if the Brennan family should decide against seeking to retain the seat.
She is the former partner of Joe Burke, a member of Bertie Ahern's Drumcondra mafia who hit headlines when a 23-year-old woman accused him of sexual assault last New Year's Eve -- a charge he emphatically denies.
She polled 3,418 first preferences in the general election last year, compared to Mr Brennan's 13,373.
Tom Kitt, then Chief Whip for Fianna Fail, was the other party TD elected, pulling in 8,487 first preferences.
Seamus Brennan Jr, a 34-year-old who works for Anglo-Irish Bank, is considered the most obvious candidate for the by-election, whenever it should be called.
Anything but a Brennan name on the ballot paper could endanger the Government's seat in the volatile constituency , where Fianna Fail and Fine Gael hold two seats each and the Greens have one.
Elected
Seamus Brennan Sr was consistently the first or second elected in the five-seater in the last several general elections, but popular support had elsewhere oscillated wildly.
Fianna Fail chief whip Pat Carey dismissed as "premature" speculation that the Government might move the writ for the by-election soon after the resumption of the Dail in late September.
But one seasoned Fianna Fail politician said: "If it isn't held in October, it can't be held for the remainder of the year because of the winter dark. January and February are out, and then you have totally lost momentum."
Meanwhile, a leading lawyer declared himself out of the running yesterday.
Fine Gael Senator Eugene Regan will convey his decision not to take part to the party headquarters this week after being "talked up" as a dark horse in the race to the Dail.
Fine Gael, which floated the name of Mr Regan for the contest, will now rely on Councillor Jim O'Leary as its flagbearer.
Elsewhere, efforts are underway to commemorate Seamus Brennan Sr by naming the LUAS flyover in Dundrum as the 'Brennan Bridge'.
Mr Brennan spearheaded moves to bring the light-rail system to the suburb, said local councillor Gerry Horkan.
- Senan Molony Deputy Political Editor
