Fine Gael got the business of selecting candidates to contest the local elections next year out of the way on Sunday last. 230 delegates turned up at the Corrin Event Centre to vote for the four candidates.

They were Kay Dawson from Mitchelstown, a former nurse who now works with the Mental Health Commission, Philly Leahy from Ballyhooly, a farmer, businessman Frank Roche from Castletownroche, and Aileen Browne from Charleville, a regional organiser with the Blood Transfusion Service Board. All four made their case for selection, pointing to their records of community involvement and party involvement. 

A directive from the party's general secretary Tom Curran conveyed to members on the day that there should be one candidate selected from Cork north west and two from Cork east, guaranteed newcomer Aileen Browne from Charleville a place on the ticket. Kay Dawson and Philly Leahy emerged as winners of the vote for the remaining two places.

Fine Gael's leader in the Seanad, Senator Maurice Cummins, presided over the convention which was attended by TDs David Stanton, Tom Barry and Aine Collins and county Cork Mayor Noel O'Connor. Also present were councillors Pa O'Driscoll, Tom Sheahan and Noel Barnes, who are all stepping down at the next elections.

Senator Cummins paid tribute to them for their contribution as did Deputies Stanton, Barry and Collins.

"It is very important that we elect three Fine Gael councillors. We will get two definitely and there's a good strong possibility of a third," Senator Cummins told the party faithful.

Pointing out that, in the last local elections they had 2.9 quotas but only got one seat, he emphasised the need for teamwork and unity. He urged members to get behind all three candidates. He spoke of the political picture nationally, the 250,000 jobs lost in the three years of the last Government and said the Government is now creating jobs at a rate of three thousand per month.

"It will take time to filter. We have done a lot but we still have a long way to go. We are going to continue to create a better environment to create jobs," he said.

"Make no mistake, it's going to be a challenge," Tom Barry TD warned delegates. With the abolition of town councils those elected to the new municipal districts are going to have a big workload, he pointed out, saying he hoped the resources they'll need will be made available to them.

He too spoke of the national situation, saying Fine Gael had been handed a mess and that there was a real danger of the banks collapsing. Now we're about to exit the bailout, something some people believed we'd never be able to do.

He spoke of progress made locally, with millions spent on the N72 stretch from Mallow to Fermoy, funding allocated for new water schemes in Conna and Kildorrery, the flood relief works in Fermoy and Mallow. Accepting that there probably had been some "miscommunication" along the way, he stressed "We are turning things around."

Deputy Staunton too said they still had a lot of work to do, but there is a feeling that things are on the up. "The work starts now, not after Christmas, not three weeks before the elections, but now," he told the candidates.

Deputy Aine Collins reiterated the words of the previous speakers saying the current climate is still tough "and we have an awful lot left to do."

It was speculated that the party was searching for another suitable candidate from the greater Fermoy area to put on the ticket, and it was stated at convention that party HQ reserve the right to do so, however with three now selected, it's highly unlikely that they'd risk diluting their vote by adding another.

Echoes remain of the last local elections, when they ran three candidates, got 2.9 quotas but, as Senator Cummins reminded them on Sunday, got only one seat. While there's two extra seats up for grabs this time in the newly redrawn and much bigger electoral area, three candidates would be the maximum they could realistically field.

With the three chosen on Sunday they've got a good geographical spread. With two women candidates Fine Gael has also stuck to its stated aim of evening up the gender balance.

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