Ged Nash with Labour leader Joan Burton
The Labour Party could be set to run just one candidate in Louth in the next General Election.
That’s according to a report in today’s Irish Independent, which suggests the party is preparing to radically downsize its number of candidates in a bid to han onto 20 Dáil seats.
That means they expect to lose as many as 12 of their TDs, with party strategists adopting a “greatly consolidated and reduced” approach to the number of candidates in a bid to avoid a split vote. Labour had 37 elected in the 2011 General Election but defections and walkouts seen them lose five of this total.
If one candidate is all that is put forward in Louth, then it is likely to be sitting TD, Ged Nash, who is a current Minister of State in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
That will lkely see Senator Mary Moran miss out on a candidacy, with the mother of five having taken 6,974 votes in her first campaign four years ago, including 4,564 first preference votes – a result that seen her come in sixth.
Meanwhile, Cllr Declan Breathnach – who took 6,001 votes in the last General Election – has declared his intention to seek a nomination from Fianna Fáil.
The party has yet to declare their candidates for the next election – which will take place sometime in the next 12 months – although current sitting TD Seamus Kirk has already announced his intention to step down.
