MEP Liam Aylward has described Meath TD Thomas Byrne as “brave” for going head to head with him for a seat in the European Parliament for the East constituency in the upcoming European elections in June.
The East constituency has a total of three available seats in the Parliament, making competition among the candidates rife. Speaking in North Kildare on Saturday, Aylward justified Byrne’s late decision by saying “The nine counties, the size of this constituency, it clearly wouldn’t be possible for me or any single candidate to canvas nine counties so there’s a big area in the North of Leinster, Meath and Louth in particular, that we need to have a candidate there”.
An Irish Times report suggests pressure from the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey was the reason that Mr. Byrne entered into the rat race at the last minute, strengthening the chances of a Fianna Fáil candidate being voted into the European Parliament.
Although the extra competition means the two Fianna Fail candidates are essentially competing, it may result in strengthening Aylward’s campaign if there is a strong Fianna Fail presence in the Northern half of the constituency.
“Fine Gael has a strong candidate there, Libertas has a candidate there so it’s balanced now and I think that’s very important,” said Mr. Aylward. “I think Thomas has made a very brave decision coming forward.” He added: “I’ve had to travel to and from the South part of the constituency over the recent weeks and I’ve had to spend more time in the car travelling to the North and back to my home in the South. You use valuable time that could be spent on the campaign trail so it makes a lot of sense what’s happening.”
