FF rocked as another senior TD calls it a day

Fianna Fail is heading into its two selection conventions in Meath over the next week without its leading vote-getters following the shock decision of Meath East TD Mary Wallace not to contest the general election. Her decision, just weeks after Transport Minister and Trim TD Noel Dempsey announced he was also leaving the Dail, leaves Fianna Fail in Meath heading into a general election without its two longest-serving representatives, severely weakening the party locally at a time when it is already suffering badly in the opinion polls. Deputy Wallace, twice a junior minister, who has been in the Dail since 1989 and was involved in local politics for five years before that, said that after almost 30 years serving her community, she feels that it is time to look at opening a “new chapter†in her life. She had spent those three decades working 100-hour weeks serving the community and doesn't regret any of it, she said yesterday (Tuesday). The Dunshaughlin electoral area had changed greatly, for the better, during those years with new infrastructure and facilities, the FF TD pointed out. Ms Wallace said that her decision had nothing to do with Fianna Fail's current standing in the polls, as she was confident that her work in the Dunshaughlin electoral area over the past 30 years would have ensured that she would have been re-elected to Dail Eireann. She also dismissed any suggestions that her announcement had anything to do with her decision to support the ban on stag hunting in the Dail last year, which angered many in Ratoath and the surrounding areas, where the Ward Union Hunt is based. In fact, she said that one of the first texts she got last Saturday after her announcement was from the hunt chairman, Christy Reynolds, thanking her for her work in getting them back on the road. “I knew that if I had voted against the government at the time, that it couldn't have made a difference, as there were four votes in it. It's maybe easier to say this now, but it meant that I was able to remain in government and continue to work on the issue and on all the other projects around the county that I was progressing,†she said. Her campaign team was ready to get going on the election canvass last weekend when she made her decision known to them. She had already been nominated for this Friday night's Meath East Fianna Fail general election selection convention in Ashbourne. Ms Wallace, from Fairyhouse, Ratoath, was first elected to Meath County Council in the 1982 local elections. Her father, Tom, a county councillor, who died suddenly on his way to Fairyhouse Racecourse in 1981, had been a public representative since 1967. “Therefore, the Wallace brand was well-known in the area as a hard-working one for the community,†she said, adding that she was delighted to continue on that work. Both at home and in the community, she said she had grown up with that commitment. Her father was involved in farming organisations, and her late mother, Rosemary, became Meath ICA Federation president. “I was lucky to be in politics at such a young age, and could go on for another 20 years, but it's time to open another chapter,†Ms Wallace, who is married to builder Declan Gannon with teenage son, Tom, said this week. With no further candidates emerging, the convention in Ashbourne this coming Friday is due to go ahead. Already nominated are Thomas Byrne TD, Cllr Nick Killian and Sharon Keogan from Duleek, a member of the party's national executive. The Meath West convention will take place on Monday night in Athboy. Following Noel Dempsey's withdrawal, Deputy Johnny Brady will be proposed at this convention, and it is also believed that Navan councillor Shane Cassells will be nominated.