FG selects four candidates for the Dunshaughlin area

Fine Gael has selected four candidates, two men and two women, to contest the Dunshaughlin electoral area in next year"s local elections. The party held its Dunshaughlin electoral area convention last week in Dunboyne Castle Hotel at which it chose four candidates to run in the seven-seater constituency. Former general election candidate, Regina Doherty from Ratoath, was chosen and is expected to concentrate on the Ratoath and Curraha areas in her campaign. She is married to Declan Doherty from Ashbourne and they have two sons and a daughter. Living in Meath for the last nine years, she is originally from Dublin, where she was educated at St Mary"s Holy Faith Convent, Glasnevin, and later at The College of Marketing and Design, Mountjoy Square. She previously worked as sales director for the Horizon Technology Group and now operates her own successful ICT distribution company with her husband. Former councillor John Fanning will seek to win back his seat which he lost in 2004. Originally from Cork, he has lived in Ashbourne since 1972. He spent his career with Aer Lingus and was a member of Meath County Council from 1991 until 2004. He is the chairman of Meath VEC and is on the standing council of the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA). He is also a member of the Meath County Enterprise Board and the board of Meath Leader. Chairman of the board of management of Dunshaughlin Community College, he is a past chairman of the board of management of Ashbourne Community School, and is a member of the board of the European School in Dunshaughlin. He is married and has four children. Maria Murphy has been chosen to fight the election in the Dunboyne area. She was born in Dublin, but has lived in Dunboyne for the last 10 years with her husband Sean and three children, who are all at different stages of education locally. She is heavily involved in local community work. The fourth candidate is Gerry O"Connor, who spent 22 years working as a financial manager in a number of companies, including Arnotts, JA Hickey Manufacturing, and Connaught Court Group before starting his own business in 2002. He has served as a member of the Article Numbering Association Board, chairman of the Eirtrade User Group and has represented the clothing industry at the European commission. He has lived in Dunshaughlin since 1984 and has played an active part in the community through residents" associations, Dunshaughlin and District Chamber of Commerce and the Dunshaughlin Community Centre Building Fund Committee. He was area co-ordinator for the Neighbourhood Watch scheme in the 1990s and his passion is the Dunshaughlin Youths Football Club, with which he has been involved since its founding. He became manager of Dunshaughlin Community Centre in 2006 and is married and has one son. Serving councillor Charles Bobbett has announced that he will not be seeking re-election to the council in 2009 due to family commitments.