TV celebrity Gráinne Seoige spent last week canvassing the Fianna Fáil delegates of the Galway West constituency to convince them to select her to run for the party in the next general election. It would be a stunning coup for Fianna Fáil to have Ms Seoige on an election ticket and, according to party members who met her last week, she is odds-on to do just that. ‘She was incredibly well received by the delegates of Galway West,’ said a Fianna Fáil member of the Galway West organisation who met Ms Seoige.
‘If they’d had better notice she was coming they would have rolled out the red carpet for her. She’ll be on the ticket alright and she’ll be elected to the Dáil.’ To represent Fianna Fáil, a candidate must be selected by local members to get on the party ticket.
The support of party headquarters is an essential element to success, and it is believed senior Fianna Fáil administrators very much favour Ms Seoige’s selection. Last week, the 50-year-old broadcaster met delegates at the northern end of the constituency near Cong; the town is actually near the border with Mayo, but there is a Galway branch. It is understood TD and former Cabinet minister Éamon Ó Cuív – who has just announced his impending retirement – is aware of Ms Seoige’s candidacy and is backing her.
It is also understood that Mr Ó Cuív’s huge body of Fianna Fáil support of in Galway West, which he has represented for over 30 years, is rowing in behind Ms Seoige, who did not respond to requests for comment last night. Ms Seoige is a native Irish speaker and is from the south Connemara town of Spiddal. She was canvassing the north Connemara area last week and will move on to other parts of the sprawling western constituency.
Ms Seoige is likely to be on the Fianna Fáil ticket with Councillor John Connolly. ‘It will be a formidable ticket and Gráinne will be a hugely welcome replacement for Éamon,’ said a Fianna Fáil Galway West member. ‘She would pick up votes in the rural areas of Connemara and other parts while John Connolly is strong in the city.
’ It will be a hyper-competitive constituency in the next election, with Minister Hildegarde Naughton and Senator Seán Kyne on the Fine Gael ticket and Sinn Féin TD Mairéad Farrell competing along with Leas-Cheann Comhairle Catherine Connolly. Last month, Mr Ó Cuív, who has been a TD in Galway West since 1994, revealed he will not stand in the next election. The party’s former deputy leader – a grandson of Éamon De Valera – has decided to retire from politics at the age of 74.
Fianna Fáil will hold a selection convention for Galway West in September and, while nominations are yet to open, party officials confirmed that Ms Seoige will be among those competing at the convention. ‘Galway West has a huge delegate membership and she probably won’t get to meet them all,’ said a member. ‘But she’s well on the road already, driving around meeting them all.
’ Fianna Fáil is also represented by Galway city based Senator Ollie Crowe and there is speculation that he may throw his hat in the ring too. Ms Seoige recently left her presenting role on Virgin Media ’s TV AM and has been recording the new season of Irish language dating show Grá Ar An Trá. The bid to add some star power has gone down well with party reps, who are hoping she can repeat the success of recent celeb candidate Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, the former radio host elected to the European Parliament earlier this year.
Ms Seoige moved to South Africa with her husband Leon Jordaan in 2016, where they own a diamond jewellery business called Grace Diamonds. They moved back to Ireland in 2021 and now live in Co. Galway.
Ms Seoige’s selection for Fianna Fáil will be extremely important to the party because of its bad record on having women elected. There is only one woman in Fianna Fáil’s section of Cabinet – Education Minister Norma Foley. There was shock in the parliamentary party recently when high-profile TD Niamh Smyth was passed over for a junior ministerial role.
All parties must have 40% female candidates at the next generalelection, or have their State funding cut. There are no gender quotas in the local elections, and those polls brought almost no progress for women in politics, as the two main parties failed to select at least 30% female candidates. New research published by the National Women’s Council of Ireland said the number of council seats won by women increased by only one, to 247.
This means female representation at local level is still hovering at 26% in Ireland, well below the European average of 35%. The ‘lack of progress’ was partially blamed on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Only a quarter of Fianna Fáil’s candidates and 29% of Fine Gael’s were women.
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