Pat the Cope Gallagher.
GRASSROOTS Fianna Fail supporters in Donegal claim veteran party stalwart Pat The Cope Gallagher is being deliberately ‘shafted’ by the party’s HQ team.
The outgoing Donegal MEP is facing a battle to keep his seat with running ‘mate’ Thomas Byrne ahead of him in the polls.
But Fianna Fail insiders here in Donegal believe party leader Micheal Martin has thrown all his weight behind Byrne.
Sources say they suspect Mr Martin wants party pal Byrne elected at the expense of Gallagher who has held a seat in Europe since giving up his Dail seat in 2009 at the request of the party.
“It’s clear who everyone in headquarters wants to win the seat and that is Byrne,” said one life-long Donegal Fianna Fail member.
“The strategy of backing Byrne will undoubtedly get him a seat in Europe, but it will be at the expense of The Cope, so it will be a very hollow victory for the party as a whole but it will be a victory for those who want Byrne in and that seems to be everyone at HQ.”
MEP Gallagher has been trailing in the polls.
Mr Martin has been seen to campaign publicly for him.
But behind the scenes party insiders say Mr Martin wants Byrne to get the seat.
The row comes after a well-publicised row over election posters. Gallagher had wanted joint posters across the 15 counties in the Midlands North West constituency.
He had also wanted an agreement on where posters would be placed; but Byrne was having none of it.
“I’ve always been a party person and I believed the party could have saved tens of thousands of euro by opting for a single poster. But I was over-ruled by headquarters,” Mr Gallagher said last week.
It is the latest issue to rock the party after the massive embarrassment when the party asked former Minister Mary Hanafin to run for a council seat in Dublin – then changed their minds.
Hanafin says she will run regardless and could now be kicked out of the party.
The incident has led senior party figures to question Micheal Martin’s continued leadership of the party.
Tags:
