TV presenter Seoige seeks Fianna Fáil selection to run for seat in the Dáil
TV presenter Gráinne Seoige will file nomination papers next week as she seeks to run for Fianna Fáil in Galway West at the next general election.
Retiring Fianna Fáil veteran Éamon Ó Cuív said she rang him last week and asked for advice about taking over from him in the Dáil.
It is the first indication that the Gaeilgeoir and former news anchor hopes to become an elected politician.
“She said she would be seeking the nomination. She is definitely interested in running for the party,” Mr Ó Cuív said. “She is a native speaker and comes from a very Fianna Fáil background.”
Mr Ó Cuív said he had wished Seoige the best of luck with the process, and pointed out that she needs only five backers for her name to go forward to a party selection convention, likely to be held early next month.
Nomination papers are due at the end of next week.
“I explained to her how it works,” Mr Ó Cuív said, adding that she “undoubtedly had appeal”.
He said Fianna Fáil would be running two candidates in the five-seat constituency.
“There are two considerations in the candidate selection – gender and geography,” he said. “These things will be taken into account in picking a candidate in the city area and one in the county.”
Seoige (50) is from Spiddal, Co Galway, but she also has connections in Carraroe and is known throughout Ireland.
Asked if he would be backing her, Mr Ó Cuív said: “Whoever is picked by the great Fianna Fáil party, I will absolutely be backing.
“There are 500 members in Galway West and I completely trust them, as I have done for 35 years, as I hope they have trusted me.
“The delegates are the really important people in all of this – the party belongs to them.
“It does not belong to headquarters or even Micheál Martin. It belongs to the ordinary people who are signed up and who pay their €20 every year.”
Mr Ó Cuív said he did not want to reveal details of a private conversation, but it had been a serious discussion in which Seoige had expressed her interest in Fianna Fáil and asked his advice.
He offered that and explained the process, as he would to anyone who was interested in public service.
Mr Ó Cuív said a city-based candidate would be selected, and that would probably come down to a choice between councillor John Connolly, councillor Alan Cheevers and senator Ollie Crowe.
Mr Crowe is a former publican who was elected to the Seanad on the Industrial and Commercial Panel and is the current Fianna Fáil Seanad spokesperson for enterprise, employment and trade.
“If the members pick her, then she’s picked,” Mr Ó Cuív added.
Seoige could become the first TV presenter to win a seat in the Dáil since former Fine Gael TD George Lee.
He quickly became disillusioned with the Dáil and returned to RTÉ, where he is the environment correspondent.