Tánaiste confident of Fianna Fáil’s ‘competitive ticket’ on trip to Tipperary
Micheál Martin also said the two candidates have "big shoes to fill"
Fianna Fáil party leader Micheál Martin has said he is confident Fianna Fáil can take one seat in the Tipperary North and North West Kilkenny constituency.
He told Tipperarylive.ie that both candidates were strong and that the party had a “very competitive ticket”.
“So, we are aiming to go in with one seat, and we may do better than that.
“We have a very strong team coming from two different bases in the constituency.
“There are a lot of candidates in the field, and Fianna Fáil are strong,” said the party leader.
Mr Martin complimented Cllr Michael Smith on his poll-topping Local Election results, said Cllr Ryan O’Meara was “up and coming”, also doing well in the June election. He said he was impressed with him in Nenagh on Sunday.
Fianna Fáil selected two candidates, Michael Smith and Ryan O’Meara to run after Jackie Cahill announced he would not contest the General Election.
Commenting on Deputy Cahill’s departure, the Tánaiste said: “Jackie has made a very significant contribution to public life and big shoes to fill in terms of what Michael and Ryan have to do. I was with Ryan in Nenagh earlier today, and I’m with Michael now.
“We have strong support for Fiánna Fail here. Jackie built up a lot of support to be fair to him in this constituency. He did a lot of hard work for many constituents here, and Kay was up with us in Nenagh with Ryan,” said the Tánaiste.
He made his comments at a visit to the Roscrea Tennis Club on Sunday. The party leader was visiting Tipperary in support of the two candidates.
Roscrea Tennis Club
The second leg of the trip was in Roscrea, where the Tánaiste met with players at the tennis and rugby clubs.
While at the tennis club, Mr Martin and Cllr Smith played a friendly game of tennis before the councillor gave his party leader a run down on how the state-of-the-art facility came to be.
Cllr Smith said the clubhouse was a portacabin, but two years ago, they received over €300,000 with the help of North Tipperary, Laois and Offaly development companies.
He said he thought it was fitting that the Tánaiste be the first politician to see it and quipped that he was “not a bad tennis player either”.
The Tánaiste said the facility was “beautiful” and that it is important for people of all ages to have access to clubs like these.
He said it is not just about sport but social opportunities and community.