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Balance of power shifts in Dún Laoghaire

Thursday, 15 May 2008

The balance of political power shifted from one side of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown to the other last week as two senior Government ministers in Dublin South gave up their posts while a young Southside TD was promoted to a high profile junior ministry for the first time.
The Cabinet reshuffle last week by newly appointed Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, had some surprises but one of the more significant changes locally was the announcement by Dublin South TD, Tom Kitt, that he would not contest the next election.
Mr Kitt confirmed that he had declined a junior ministry from Brian Cowen when he was told he was losing his job as Chief Whip, which has Cabinet status.
He told RTÉ Radio's ‘Today with Pat Kenny’ that Mr Cowen had his full support but that after consideration he would not be contesting the next election, which is expected in 2012.
“I am going to look at my life and certainly my life is going to move in a different direction but in saying this to you this morning I genuinely have a sense of freedom as well,” he said.
“The word gutted would not be at all appropriate. There is not an ounce of bitterness at all in my body this morning. That is as genuine as I can be.”
Fianna Fáil could now enter the next election campaign without a sitting TD in the Dublin South constituency, as it is unclear whether former Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Séamus Brennan, will recontest his seat.
Mr Brennan insisted last week that he would return to full duties once he has overcome his current illness but he also referred to European political duties.

It is now likely that Senator Maria Corrigan, who has waited in the wings for years and has polled consistently in the last two general elections, will run again as a Dáil candidate for the party. She could well be joined on the Fianna Fáil ticket by well-respected South Dublin county councillor John Lahart.
Stillorgan based Dún Laoghaire Rathdown councillor Gerry Horkan said he would also consider running as a general election candidate but added that this would depend on whether Deputy Brennan recontests his seat.
“I would say it very much depends on what Seamus Brennan is doing,” he said. “If Seamus is not running, well then you would be looking at the lie of the land to see if it would be possible to win a seat and all that.”
Commenting on Deputy Kitt’s decision not to contest the next election, Independent councillor Gearoid O’Keeffe said: “Tom Kitt is a personal friend of mine and I greatly regret from a constituency point of view that he is no longer a minister. He did great service for South Dublin and I wish him well.”
Cllr O’Keeffe added that he was giving serious consideration to running himself as an Independent candidate in South Dublin at the next general election.
It is also widely believed that former Dún Laoghaire TD and Progressive Democrats Senator, Fiona O’Malley, will run in Dublin South in four years’ time.
Meanwhile, Dún Laoghaire TD Barry Andrews was appointed as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs – a ‘super-junior’ ministry, meaning he gets to sit at Cabinet but is not a full member.
However, another surprise in the reshuffle was the demotion of his constituency colleague, Deputy Mary Hanafin, from the Education portfolio to Social and Family Affairs.
Speaking about his objectives in his new job, he said: “From my own experiences as a back-bencher, the issue of vulnerable children and how we try to divert them from the inevitable path that some of them take is an issue that I will try to give a lot of thought to in this office.
“Teachers will tell you which kids are going to get into trouble in later life and that is unacceptable and I will certainly do everything I can to improve conditions for children.”
Commenting on the political career of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, he said he believed his legacy was a “considerable” one.
“People are focused on the tribunals to the exclusion of much more substantial achievements like the North, Europe, the economy and social partnership.
“From a Fianna Fáil point of view, his uniting of the party allowed us the stability to win three elections in a row. While Fine Gael has been rejuvenated with new TDs, we got 20 new TDs ourselves in 2007 and the same in 2002 and that is to his credit. That is the legacy I think ultimately will be recorded by historians.”

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