“Tullamore needs a TD”: McCormack enters Dáil race

With no date yet set for the Fianna Fáil selection convention, a Tullamore-based councillor who has declared his intention to seek the nomination for the upcoming General Election has said the capital town of Offaly needs its own TD.

Cllr Tony McCormack, who is also the current Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council, said he intends to put his “best foot forward” at the convention and is hoping to continue the legacy of the Cowen family by taking one of the three Offaly seats in Dáil Éireann.

“I know there are other very capable candidates whose names will be put before convention, but I feel it is time that Tullamore, as the capital town of the county, and the town with the biggest population, had its own TD, ” he said this week, "and I would hope to be that person.”

The popular local businessman expects that party headquarters will issue a recommendation that one candidate be selected at convention, with the option to add a second candidate at a later stage.

“We could have five or six names on the ballot paper at convention, and it is up to the delegates to decide who is best placed to contest for a seat,” said Cllr McCormack, who added that Fianna Fáil had performed “extremely well” in the Tullamore Electoral Area in the recent local elections by comfortably retaining its four council seats and taking 45% of the first preference vote.

Meanwhile, Birr Electoral Area councillor Peter Ormond has also confirmed that he intends to go before the selection convention.

"I will be contesting the convention when it is called, subject to the nomination process," he said.

He said he hoped the selection convention would take place in the coming weeks, and said he believed a two-candidate strategy would work best for the party. Cllr Ormond also suggested that it was possible that convention would select one candidate, with another to be added by the party later.

Ormond hails from Shinrone, and has represented the Birr Electoral Area on Offaly County Council for a quarter of a century. Having initially stood as an Independent in 1999, he opted to join Fianna Fáil shortly afterwards and has been a consistent poll topper for the party ever since, polling 1,943 first preference votes at the local elections in June.

Ormond ran in the 2020 general election in the Laois/Offaly constituency, as part of a three-candidate Fianna Fáil ticket, which saw both Barry Cowen and Sean Fleming elected.

Cllr Eddie Fitzpatrick, who topped the poll in the Edenderry Electoral Area at the local elections with just under 2,000 first preference votes, has also declared his intention to seek the party nomination at convention. Based in Cloneyhurke, on the outskirts of Portarlington, Cllr Fitzpatrick narrowly missed out on taking a second Fianna Fáil seat in 2016 alongside sitting TD, Barry Cowen.