McHugh and Fitzsimons added to FF ticket

Jenny McHugh, the former Labour councillor who defected to Fianna Fail last year, has been added to the Fianna Fail election ticket in the Navan area for this year’s local elections, as well as sitting Fianna Fail town councillor, Padraig Fitzsimons.

They join councillors Shane Cassells and Tommy Reilly on the ticket in Navan. Cassells and Reilly were selected at a convention in Navan in December, where Fitzsimons was the runner-up. Up until the night before the convention, the delegates were under the impression they were selecting three candidates on the night, but a directive from headquarters instructed that two were to be selected.

This week sees a hotly contested Fianna Fail convention in the Ratoath electoral areas, on Thursday in Dunboyne Castle Hotel. There are six declared candidates - sitting councillors Nick Killian and Noel Leonard, as well as Dunboyne’s Damien Reilly and Fergus O’Riordan, Deirdre Smith of Ratoath, and in Dunshaughlin, PJ White.

Meanwhile, a date has yet to be set for another convention which will also see massive competition - the Kells Electoral area, where Seneschalstown and former Meath footballer Joe Sheridan is a candidate for selection, as well as town councillor Sean Drew and county councillor Bryan Reilly in Kells, Cllr Ollie Fox in Oldcastle and Michael Bray in Fordstown.