*Senator Martin Conway (FG). Photograph: Natasha Barton
FINE GAEL have received just two nominations for their selection convention to decide their General Election ticket in Clare.
Senator Martin Conway (FG) and Leonora Carey (FG) were the only candidates put forward at the close of nominations on Monday evening at 5pm, The Clare Echo has learned.
Both candidates will be selected and no vote is anticipated for the convention which will be held on September 6th.
It will be Conway’s second bid for the Dáil. The Ennistymon man ran in the 2020 General Election and polled 2,285 first preference votes and was eliminated on the sixth count prior to Cllr Rita McInerney (FF).
Conway has been a Senator on the Administrative Panel since 2011. He is the first visually impaired member of the Oireachtas. He served as a county councillor in Clare from 2004 to 2011.
Clarecastle native Leonora will be running for office for the first time. A sister of outgoing TD, Joe Carey (FG), she has been a pivotal figure in his four successful elections to the Dáil.
Leonora has served as Chair of Fine Gael’s National Executive Council and currently works as an occupational therapist manager with UL Hospitals Group.
Since 1951, Fine Gael has elected a TD in Clare. The upcoming General Election will be one of its trickiest as it faces a battle to keep a seat in Co Clare but a very open field remains.
