Fianna Fáil ‘will fight for two seats in Cork North-Central’, TD says

Fianna Fáil will be fighting for two seats in Cork North-Central, delegates attending the selection convention for the constituency were told by the first nominee to the party ticket, sitting TD Pádraig O’Sullivan, on Monday.

The TD — who was first elected in a late 2019 by-election before retaining his seat in the 2020 general election — defeated the only other nominee to put his name before the convention, Cork City North West ward councillor Tony Fitzgerald, by a comfortable margin.

Two other candidates, Colm Kelleher, who is a member of Cork City Council representing the party in the South West ward, and Gearóid Murphy, a Mallow-based county councillor, had been nominated to go before the convention, but withdrew their names when the Fianna Fáil head office had directed that only one candidate be selected at convention, with a possibility for one or two running mates to be added afterwards.

Mr Fitzgerald, Mr Murphy, and Mr Kelleher all indicated to the convention that they wanted to be considered as potential running mates.

In his remarks to delegates following his selection, the sitting TD said the party needed to be ambitious in Cork North-Central, given that it would be a five-seater in the next general election, having been a four-seater in the current Dáil.

“I firmly believe we will be fighting for two seats in Cork North-Central if we get the strategy right and if we get our candidate selection right,” he said.

The TD thanked delegates for their support and set out a list of his priorities for the coming terms, which included making further progress on projects that are already in train.

“On the infrastructural side of things, I want to see major structures like the Cork-Limerick road, the Mallow Relief Road, and the Northern Ring Road progress,” he said.

He added that he would also be pushing for the completion of the hospital in Glanmire as well as primary care centres in Mallow, Glanmire, Mayfield, and Blarney.

Mr O’Sullivan, who is also Fianna Fáil spokesman on special education, said he wanted to see the continued rollout of autism classes and that the pilot scheme for the restoration of therapists to special schools is fully rolled out.