WEST Cork communities will have a ‘pragmatic’ voice at the table of national politics, according to Cork South West’s new Fine Gael senator, Noel O’Donovan.
While he failed to get elected during the recent Seanad elections, the Rosscarbery-based senator was given a political lifeline by the Taoiseach last Friday, who named him as one of his 11 nominees for the Seanad.
There was disappointment, however, for former Sen Tim Lombard, who failed to get elected on the agricultural panel and didn’t get the Taoiseach’s nod either.
It remains unclear what his political plans are for the future.
Speaking to The Southern Star, Sen O’Donovan, who previously served as a garda before returning to politics and topping the poll in last June’s local elections in the Skibbereen area, said he is ‘deeply humbled and honoured’ to have been nominated to the Seanad.
‘It’s an important announcement for Cork South West as it will give our communities a strong pragmatic voice at the table of national politics,’ he said.
‘We have a lot of pressing matters in West Cork which have been neglected in recent years, such as the waste water treatment plant in Dunmanway and Rosscarbery, capital investment across the N71, and more affordable housing.’
Sen O’Donovan, who was first elected to Cork County Council in 2011, topped the poll in last year’s local elections and stood in his first general election last November, but was unsuccessful in winning back a seat in Cork South West for Fine Gael.
There was criticism in political circles that the two-candidate strategy split the vote, resulting in neither Noel nor his party colleague Tim Lombard getting elected.
The race is now on to see who Fine Gael will select to take Sen O’Donovan’s former Council seat, which is expected to be decided upon in the coming weeks.
Former Skibbereen town councillor, Brendan McCarthy, who ran in last year’s local elections, would be seen as a likely contender to be co-opted.
However, if other candidates put their names forward, a co-option convention for paid up members will then take place to decide who gets the seat.
Fine Gael will also need to fill the Council seat vacated by Sen Eileen Lynch, who got elected to the Seanad and was a councillor in the Macroom Municipal District.
