Hannigan confirmed for Meath East

The Labour Party has confirmed Senator Dominic Hannigan as its Meath East candidate in the next general election. Senator Hannigan was ratified as a candidate at a convention in the County Club, Dunshaughlin, last Thursday. He was proposed by Dunshaughlin area councillor, Niamh McGowan, and seconded by Slane Area councillor Eoin Holmes. He told the convention he was honoured to be chosen as the candidate, but warned that the task to win a seat will be no pushover. “Fianna Fail are still strong in Meath and they are not going to gift this seat to us. They will fight us every step of the way,” he said. Senator Hannigan said that he would leave no stone unturned in his efforts to attract votes from every corner of the constituency. “Our campaign is now underway and I would urge anyone who wants to be involved to get in touch with us. We need help from all quarters,” he added. The convention also heard calls for Labour to consider running two candidates in Meath East, to take advantage of the recent upsurge in the party’s fortunes. A request is to be submitted to party headquarters asking that the party look at the potential of running an additional candidate in the constituency. Senator Hannigan said that he expects the party to consider this request carefully and make a decision based on the best evidence available to them. “For the sake of the country, we need to put Labour at the heart of the next government. That means winning seats in constituencies like Meath East and I will be doing my bit to make that a reality,” he concluded. The Labour Party in Kells made the call for the party to run two candidates in the constituency at last week’s convention. This was in response to the new system of candidate selection adopted at Labour’s conference 18 months ago, which sees an outside panel pick candidates for the party. Kells branch member, Cllr Brian Collins, said Labour was facing a good election and the party should be ambitious and put forward a running mate for Senator Hannigan.