Cork TD Michael Moynihan 'inundated with calls' of support for Ceann Comhairle bid
A Moynihan Source Td Party Ground Fáil Considered Is Michael 'middle According Candidate', To The Fianna
Cork North West TD Michael Moynihan could enter the fray to become the next Ceann Comhairle, as negotiations around the next Government are due to continue this week.
A number of Fianna Fáil TDs have indicated that Mr Moynihan is interested in the position, with the Cork TD said to have been “inundated with calls” from backbenchers giving him their support.
Sources within Fianna Fáil have suggested that Mr Moynihan would first seek clarity from Tánaiste Micheál Martin as to how key the election of Verona Murphy as Ceann Comhairle is for the regional group.
“I doubt he would be coming forward without some kind of discussion with Micheál Martin,” one Fianna Fáil TD said.
“He [Michael Moynihan] is the middle-ground candidate that nobody would give out about,” another Fianna Fáil source said.
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One party source admitted that the emergence of three Fianna Fáil candidates for Ceann Comhairle has “complicated” the situation.
Alongside Mr Moynihan, incumbent Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl and Carlow-Kilkenny TD John McGuinness are seeking the speaker’s chair.
Ms Murphy is the regional group’s pick, while Sinn Féin has nominated Aengus Ó Snodaigh for the position.
One Fine Gael TD said that if Ms Murphy is the agreed candidate picked out as part of government negotiations, that all prospective government parties should back her.
“If it’s agreed at the talks, then it should be honoured,” they said.
Fianna Fáil’s John Lahart said that there may be individual aspects of negotiations that parties find “unpalatable”, as his party could be asked to vote for Ms Murphy.
“In the formation of any coalition Government, by virtue of the fact that it’s made up of a number of elements, each individual element is going to find something unpalatable.”
Ms Murphy met with a group of supporters in Wexford on Saturday, where her local supporters backed her nomination as Ceann Comhairle.
One complicating matter is that the vote is carried out as a secret ballot, meaning that parties cannot strictly whip their TDs on how they vote.
In 2020, Fergus O’Dowd was the selected candidate to be leas Ceann Comhairle. However, he lost by three votes to Catherine Connolly after some government TDs voted against him or abstained.
Meanwhile, direct talks between the regional group, Fianna Fáil, and Fine Gael are underway, as Michael Lowry meets with both Jack Chambers and Helen McEntee.
One independent source said that there was a “way to go yet” on negotiations.
It comes as Labour is due to meet with Taoiseach Simon Harris on Monday afternoon, following party leader Ivana Bacik seeking a more substantial response to its policy priorities.
Ms Bacik, Alan Kelly, and Marie Sherlock are due to meet with Mr Harris on Monday, while a meeting with Tánaiste Micheál Martin has been scheduled for Tuesday.
One senior party source said that whether Labour stay in government negotiations would be made “very clear on Tuesday evening” when both parties have responded.
Ms Bacik admitted that it was “unlikely” that Labour would enter into a coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.