MEP Ming wants to see new Tuam Cllr Fitzmaurice replace him in Dáil

WHILE the local political focus is now concentrated on the make-up of the coalition which will take power at Galway County Hall — especially on whether Fianna Fáil will join with Fine Gael and use their combined 24 of the 39 seats to keep Independents and Sinn Féin out of power – the question of the future of Roscommon-South Leitrim Luke Ming Flanagan’s Dáil seat is also in play in Galway East.
With Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents each holding 12 seats on the new council, and Sinn Féin holding the remaining three, forming a workable coalition will be very difficult and throws up the possibility, flagged in The Tuam Herald before the election, of a FF-FG coalition.
And while much of the talk locally about the EU poll concentrated on Ming Flanagan outpolling Athenry Senator Lorraine Higgins (Labour) in her home town, the attention now turns to who will replace Flanagan in the Dáil.
To this end, the spotlight is now turning on newly elected Tuam Electoral Area Independent Cllr Michael Fitzmaurice, a close ally of Ming and now a proven vote-getter in his own right. Fitzmaurice took a very impressive 2,621 first-preference votes in his first outing for the council, and MEP Flanagan told The Herald that he would relish the prospect of Fitzmaurice replacing him in the Dáil.

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