No surprises at Fine Gael Cork East convention

As had been tipped in advance, Fine Gael has selected two candidates to contest the next general election in the Cork East constituency.

The candidates were selected at a convention chaired by Further and Higher Education Minister Patrick O’Donovan in the Carrigtwohill Community Centre on Friday evening.

There were no surprises at the convention, and the two candidates who were chosen had been widely expected to be selected.

There had been some predictions that party headquarters might impose a female candidate in an effort to address gender balance, but in the end that did not transpire.

The convention selected sitting county councillor Noel McCarthy and Mark Stanton to be Fine Gael’s candidates in Cork East at the next general election, with Cobh-born and Fermoy-based Mr McCarthy concentrating on the northern part of the constituency and Mr O’Donovan operating in the south.

Mr McCarthy was first elected to Cork County Council for the Labour Party in 2009.

He was re-elected in 2014, at a time when the Labour Party was in government with Fine Gael and deeply unpopular. Mr McCarthy topped the poll in the Fermoy local electoral area and became the only Labour councillor in the country to increase their vote at the time.

In December of 2015, Mr McCarthy announced that he would be running in the next general election for Fine Gael. He was unsuccessful in the February 2016 election, and did not contest the subsequent 2020 general election.

Mark Stanton, who is the son of outgoing Cork East Fine Gael TD David Stanton, is a former president of the University College Cork Students’ Union.

David Stanton, who was first elected in Cork East in 1997 and has been re-elected in every subsequent election, announced in May of 2023 that he would not be standing at the next election.

Mr McCarthy said he believed that grassroots issues on the ground were what mattered to people in Cork East, and he instanced housing, health services, agriculture, road infrastructure, immigration among those concerns.

“Hopefully come the election, whenever it is called, people will consider me to be their TD.

“I won’t let them down and I look forward to meeting all over the coming weeks and months,” he said.

Mr Stanton said he believed that politics needed more young voices, to bring energy and fresh perspective to public life.

Citing the devastation caused by flooding after Storm Babet last October, he said work needed to be done to push forward flood protection measures for Midleton and its surrounding villages.

“If elected, I will work night and day to our farmers, fishermen, small businesses, and the thriving local tourism industry that provide jobs for people across the constituency,” he said.

Fine Gael has so far chosen 20 general election candidates in 12 constituencies.

The next general election must occur by March of 2025, with the three coalition party leaders insisting the Government will run full term.

However, there is a growing belief in political circles that an autumn election looks increasingly likely to follow a giveaway budget at the start of October.