*Senator Martin Conway and Tánaiste Simon Harris (FG).
CLARE SENATOR, Martin Conway could be in a line for a move to Europe if Sean Kelly (FG) succeeds in his Presidential election bid.
Ennistymon’s Conway is on the replacement list for the Ireland South constituency meaning he would become an MEP if Kelly was to leave his post in Brussels.
Scariff native Michael McNamara (IND) is already an MEP following his election last July but if Kelly was to cause a shock and take up residence at the Arás then he could well be joined by another Clare man in the European Union.
MEP Kelly has re-entered the Presidential race following Mairead McGuinness’ (FG) withdrew her candidacy on health grounds. The Kerry man, a former President of the GAA is seeking the party nomination alongside former Deputy Leader and ex Minister, Heather Humphreys (FG). As it stands, Humphreys is securing the bulk of the support within the party.
Each candidate in the European elections must provide up to six replacements for their designated constituency to the returning officer. Conway is top of the Kelly’s list of replacements following the death of Cork’s John Mullins in April who contested the European elections and was a former CEO of Bord Gáis Energy.
In February, Senator Conway resigned from the Fine Gael parliamentary party however he still remains a party member and is indeed listed as a Fine Gael member on the Oireachtas’ official website. He returned to Leinster House and his duties as a Senator in July.
His resignation from the parliamentary party followed his arrest in January which he confirmed in a subsequent statement, “In the early hours of Tuesday, January 22nd, I was arrested by An Garda Síochána on O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 for being in an intoxicated state due to consumption of sleeping tablets and alcohol. I was detained at Store Street Garda Station and subsequently released without charge a number of hours later”.
Conway was re-elected to the Seanad for the fourth time at the beginning of February. Born in 1974 with congenital cataracts, he was the third generation of his family to have the condition. At six months old, Martin was brought to London for surgery in which the cataracts were removed and he was left with just sixteen percent vision.
He graduated with a degree in Economics and Politics from UCD in 1998. Before graduating, Mr Conway was a founding member of the Association of Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD), a not-for-profit organisation that supports students with disabilities, making education accessible and helping to place graduates in employment. In 2011, he became the first visually impaired member of the Oireachtas. Prior to this, he had been an elected member of Clare County Council since 2004.
Fine Gael officials are remaining tight-lipped on the possibility of Senator Conway becoming an MEP and are understood to be studying process required on replacement candidates. A disciplinary process remains ongoing within the party.
