This article is from page 8 of the 2013-10-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
IT IS likely to be a tale of two very different meetings when Fine Gael holds its Shannon and West Clare section conventions next week.
There are just two nominees for the Shannon Selection Convention to be held on Monday, with Clare county councillors John Crowe and Sean McLoughlin nominated to go before the members.
With just two candidates before the convention, it is likely they will be automatically added to the ticket to contest the 2014 Local Election in the six-seater constituency.
It is not clear as yet how many people if any will be added to the ticket after the convention, as the directive from the party headquarters has yet to be received.
West Clare is likely to be a livelier convention however with seven nominees to go before convention.
Clare county councillor Bill Slattery is the only candidate from the north of the constituency to be nominated, with the majority of candidates coming from the old Kilrush Electoral Area.
There are two nominees from the town of Kilrush in the form of Kilrush town councillors Marian McMahon Jones and Ian Lynch.
The other Fine Gael town councillor, Cllr Liam Williams, was not among the nominees.
West of Kilrush there are a further two nominees, as Clare county councillor Gabriel Keating and Kilkee town mayor Paddy Collins have been nominated.
No other Fine Gael member of the Kilkee Town Council is to contest the convention.
Cllr Oliver Garry from the Kildysert area has also been nominated to go before the delegates for selection on Friday night week, as has newcomer Johnny Pilkington.
From Cree, Johnny is a prominent member of young Fine Gael and is the son of former constituency chairman and director of elections for Fine Gael Dick Pilkington.
There are no indications how many candidates the party will run in the geographically expansive eightseater constituency that takes in the current Kilrush Electoral Area and a significant part of the Ennistymon Electoral Area.