*Cathal Crowe, Mike Enright and Timmy Dooley.
AN EMERGENCY meeting of Fianna Fáil members takes place tonight (Wednesday) with one item on the agenda, that to discuss recent comments made by the party’s Clare chairman.
Chairman of the Fianna Fáil Comhairle Dáil Ceantair in Clare, Mike Enright took a swipe at the party’s only TD in the county, Cathal Crowe (FF), it follows the omission of the TD from the guest-list to an energy forum that almost all party members in the county received invites to.
The Clare Echo reported last week how local party members were disgruntled over Deputy Crowe’s delay in receiving an invite to an to ‘Powering the Future: Liberal Energy Forum’ which was organised by ALDE and Senator Timmy Dooley (FF).
Speaking to The Clare Echo on Friday about the controversy, Enright stated, “Everything was done through headquarters. To my knowledge, every member was asked to attend, Cathal Crowe the TD is a member of Fianna Fáil and I presume he was asked to attend like everyone else so I don’t know what the controversy is. I think maybe it might be no harm if he went to Mothercare and got a soother it might help him a small bit”.
Deputy Crowe expressed his disappointment with the remarks from his party colleague. “That is a very disappointing and unchairmanlike comment, and it is not befitting of the most senior figure in the Clare Comhairle Dáil Ceantair,
Enright’s comments have sparked plenty of discussion among members of the party and across the political sphere.
Party members in the Ennis Comhairle Ceantair are meeting in Hotel Woodstock on Wednesday night to discuss the Chairman’s remarks.
Newmarket-on-Fergus native Enright who will not be present at this meeting told The Clare Echo that he stood by his comments. “I don’t regret making the comments at all, it deflected from the event which I attended and it was very good”. He added, “It is a pity the TD didn’t embrace it and help promote what we can do in the county with renewable. Hopefully he won’t throw the dolls out of the cot anymore”.
Killaloe based member of the party, Matt Moroney called for Enright and his officials to step aside following the comments. He believed Fianna Fáil headquarters will not tackle the issue. He said the current officer board “does not represent the grassroots thoughts on the party structure despite calling on numerous occasions for meetings both CDC and Comhairle Ceanntair level. No meetings are being had and no AGM has been held since the election of the officer board in 2016. There’s claims of bullying against some officers and it’s not being dealt with and members are now not renewing their membership over the split in the party. It’s my belief that all elected representatives should be supported equally so they can work for the people 100% but when there’s a split that can’t happen. With the current ongoing situation and carry on of membership officers it’s getting very hard to stay in the party and I will be questioning my own membership unless serious changes are made in the county”.
Ennis member, Angela Coll said, “I think the Chairman’s comments bring the entire officer board into disrepute and I’m very disappointed after what was a hugely successful event that our chair chose to issue such comments. I look forward as an officer of the Comhairle Dáil Ceantair to our chairman holding a full meeting of the members to establish whether his comments are reflective of the beliefs of the wider membership as I don’t believe they are”.
All thirteen Fianna Fáil councillors were contacted by The Clare Echo for their views on the ongoing controversy.
Mayor of the Ennis MD, Cllr Pat Daly (FF) said, “His comment were very un-Chairman like, I’m very disappointed to hear that tone of language being used. That is not the way to speak of Fianna Fáil’s most senior politician in the county”. Cllr Daly said he believed the Chairman’s term ends this year which will prompt a different approach.
An apology should be issued to Deputy Crowe, Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) maintained. He praised Senator Dooley for organising an “an extremely worthwhile event that I expect will benefit our county and country economically long term. Administration issues from Fianna Fáil headquarters with issuing invites to upcoming events is hopefully now rectified going forward”. He added that the Chairman’s comments were “disappointing and unnecessary because Deputy Crowe is a hard word-working and highly respected politician”.
Former Mayor of Clare, Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) said he was unaware of the context behind the Chairman’s comments. “I’m disappointed that issues which can be solved through in-house dialogue are being aired in public. There’s mechanics in the organisation to sort it out”. He felt it was important a more united approach becomes evident prior to the Local, European and General Elections.
When approached at Monday’s Clare County Council meeting, Cllr Rita McInerney (FF) said she was “too busy” to comment on the matter. Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) remarked, “all of that stuff is beyond my paygrade” and insisted his focus was on the upcoming selection convention in the Kilrush LEA.
Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) declined to comment on the matter while Cllr Pat McMahon (FF) said he had been spent the past week in hospital and was not abreast on the controversy.
Oireachtas members should be focusing on more important matters, Cllr Shane Talty (FF) believed. “The initial row between Cathal and Timmy was a needless distraction. The focus should be on policies that can improve things that matter to the people of Clare like wastewater infrastructure and not silly rows”.
More unity is needed, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) said. “I would rather if the TD and Senator worked to deliver for issues that matter in the constituency, no rural area has received an Active Travel allocation is a more important issue for me than. The public don’t like to see these spats”. He said “we’d be better off without personal comments” as issued by the Chairman.
“I don’t know the rationale behind the Chairman’s comments, maybe it was tongue in cheek,” Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) suggested. “Facing into an election campaign, my number one focus is on getting re-elected,” he added.
A determination to represent the county is fuelling the emotions behind the issue, Cllr Joe Killeen (FF) felt. “Politics can engender high emotion and the advice from me is for everybody to keep cool and calm. It is wonderful to have two national politicians Cathal and Timmy that are so determined to look after the interests of our county. It is all shoulders to the wheel for the people of Clare”.
Hope was expressed by Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) that the “incident will be satisfactorily handled internally within the Fianna Fáil party”.
Cratloe based, Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) stated, “I get on well with Mike, Cathal and Timmy. I don’t like to any controversy between us as members, I’d like to concentrate on my role as a county councillor and working hard for the people. I don’t like to see any controversies and I wouldn’t be a controversial person, I don’t like to see these spats happening”.
