Will Fianna Fáil’s two candidate General Election ticket pay off in Tipperary North?

Following Jackie Cahill’s surprise resignation this year, Fianna Fáil made the risky decision to run two candidates in his place in the Tipperary North constituency, Cllr Ryan O’Meara from Nenagh and Cllr Michael Smith from Roscrea. 

Prior to Cllr O’Meara’s election to the county council this year, Cllr Smith would likely have been a shoe in for Jackie Cahill’s replacement in the event that he retired, however Cllr O’Meara has spared no time making  a name for himself as  a passionate and committed young politician and  being Jackie Cahill’s parliamentary assistant for the past five years  didn’t hurt his chances as he threw his name  in the ring, so the race is less certain.

Both candidates are strong in their own ways, if neither takes the third seat, the results could easily see the two take fourth and fifth place. 

Running two candidates in the same constituency seems like a recipe for disaster, particularly when  two of the three seats seem almost guaranteed to go to other candidates, but you have to imagine the party had some sort of strategy making this move.

Throughout the campaign the message has been clear from both that there is no division between them, they’ve asked that if you’re putting one as your number one vote then to please put the other as your second preference, but ultimately one can’t help but speculate that it can’t feel totally friendly.  

In the weeks leading up to the General Election there certainly seems to be two Fianna Fáil teams forming, Cllr  Smith has been canvassing regularly with Cllr John Carroll from the Nenagh Municipal District (MD) whereas Cllr O’Meara has been out knocking on doors with Cllr Kay Cahill-Skehan and Cllr Sean Ryan from the Thurles MD. Whether or not that’s a whole party decision or their own is pure speculation but the image of two teams is certainly suggestive and it’s hard not to think if they’d gone with just one candidate that all members were showing support for, it may have looked better.

This strategy may also be more of a bid to play the long game. Fianna Fáil could be putting both candidates up to see who polls better this time around so that when the next General Election comes around they have a better idea of who to put forward. 

Ultimately, it does come down to the kind of experience people want out of their candidates. 

Tipperary voters haven’t exactly strayed far from the tried and tested in the past which is a bonus for Cllr Smith but a combination of old guard fatigue and young voters coming out could be a game changer for Cllr O’Meara.