Picture: Valerie O’Sullivan
On a day Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described Brendan Griffin as “a brilliant representative for Kerry”, the Fine Gael organisation in the constituency started its preparations to regroup to identify possible candidates to replace the former junior minister on the party ticket for the next general election.
Deputy Griffin’s decision to make his retirement announcement early will be a major help to party strategists as it will give them time to conduct a grassroots assessment to see who is interested in seeking a nomination and who might be best place to win a seat when the country next goes to the polls.
Mr Griffin (40) was a consistent big vote winner who enjoyed great support throughout the county.
He topped the poll in his first general election campaign in 2011 with 8,808 first preference votes and he increased that to 9,674 by the time the 2016 general election came around. In the 2020 election his share of the first preference vote had risen to 10,296.
Although it’s still very early days and the shock of Mr Griffin’s decision to retire has left the party reeling, a number of names have been bandied about by Fine Gael sources in Kerry this Tuesday with Listowel councillor Aoife Thornton being mentioned as a strong contender, if she is interested.
Others in the conversation include Cllr Patrick O’Connor-Scarteen whose links with both Kenmare and Killarney would be an obvious plus and long-serving Castleisland councillor Bobby O’Connell who is well placed geographically and a very seasoned political operator.
Other names likely to come under the microscope are the party’s three other elected councillors, Mike Kennelly in Listowel – Deputy Griffin’s running mate in 2020 – and his Listowel municipal district colleague Michael Foley as well as veteran Tralee campaigner Cllr Jim Finucane.
If the party is brave enough to give youth its fling it might look in the direction of Art O’Mahony from Castleisland who is the highly-regarded president of Young Fine Gael.
Still in his early 20s, he has a law degree from University College Cork and later studied for a Master’s in international public policy and he is seen as a real political star of the future.
Picture: John Reidy
Meanwhile, paying tribute to Brendan Griffin this afternoon, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he understands entirely that he wants to spend more time with his family in the future.
He said the Keel, Castlemaine father-of-two was an excellent Minister for Tourism and Sport and throughout his career he has been a very effective advocate for rural Ireland.
“Brendan has worked tirelessly for the people of Kerry. His legacy includes the two greenways in North Kerry, progress on the south Kerry greenway, which is now in the early stages of construction, improvements on the new Cork to Kerry road; including the Macroom bypass, financial support for Kerry Airport and for sports clubs throughout the county,” Mr Varadkar said.
“Above all, Brendan has shown unstinting service for the people of Kerry as their public representative,” he added.
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