Mr Enda Kenny has cleared his first major hurdle in rebuilding Fine Gael with a successful Seanad election strategy of securing seats for potential Dáil candidates.
With an eye firmly fixed on the next general election, the party set about using the Seanad as an Oireachtas base to build Dáil seats, following its disastrous performance in the May general election.
The strategy leaves the party poised to make a strong challenge for extra Dáil seats in the next election. The party leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said the Fine Gael Seanad team would play its part in rejuvenating the party nationally.
"Fine Gael public representatives have applied their voting power in a strategic way that will see most, if not all, of these senators taking new Dáil seats in the next general election," he added.
When counting was completed in the vocational and university panels yesterday, Fianna Fáil had gained a seat from Fine Gael, leaving the party with 24 seats. Fine Gael won 15 seats, Labour 5 and Independents 5. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is expected to announce his 11 nominees next week, four of whom will be from the Progressive Democrats.
Fine Gael senators without the prospect of securing Dáil seats had to go it on their own as party headquarters favoured defeated high-profile TDs and councillors, who will challenge for membership of the Dáil, in the elections to the five vocational panels.
The strategy worked with one exception. The outgoing senator, Mr Paul Coghlan, who will not be standing for the Dáil, held off a strong challenge from Ms Deirde Clune, who lost her seat in Cork South Central.
Although Mr Paddy Burke, a senator from Mayo without Dáil ambitions, also retained his seat, he had the considerable advantage of being a close associate of the party leader.
The election was a success for Fianna Fáil, given that it gained a seat from Fine Gael on the Administrative panel due, in part, to Fine Gael's reduced Oireachtas representation following the general election.
Although party headquarters would have preferred the emphasis on young potential TDs, Fianna Fáil's leading Seanad lights survived. Its most impressive acquisition was Dr Martin Mansergh, a former adviser to three Fianna Fáil taoisigh, who made it clear that he will continue to nurse the Tipperary South constituency where he was an unsuccessful candidate in the general election.
A surprise success for Fianna Fáil was Mr Timmy Dooley, a member of the party's national executive in his early 30s, who may well now focus on securing a Dáil seat in his native Clare.
Mr Diarmuid Wilson, from Cavan, a nephew of a former Fianna Fáil Tanaiste, Mr John Wilson, may also be tempted to throw his hat in the ring in Cavan-Monaghan, where the party has so far failed to regain the seat lost to Sinn Féin's Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin.
A surprise loser was Fianna Fáil's Mr Michael Kitt, who lost his Dáil seat in Galway East in the general election. He is a brother of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Dublin South TD, Mr Tom Kitt.
Labour will be happy with its Seanad performance, given that it had candidates elected who will challenge for Dáil seats. They are Mr Derek McDowell in Dublin North Central, Ms Joanna Tuffy in Dublin Mid West, Mr Michael McCarthy in Cork South West and Ms Kathleen O'Meara in Tipperary North. Mr Brendan Ryan, who won a seat on the NUI panel, is also a member of the party and likely to again contest Cork South Central in the next general election.
The Labour leader, Mr Ruairí Quinn, said last night that the party's five Seanad seats meant it would now qualify for group status in the new Seanad. "Our total of 27 members means that we have the second-biggest parliamentary party in our history," he added.
The Green Party's candidate, Ms Mary White, who unsuccessfully contested Carlow-Kilkenny in the general election, failed to make it to the Seanad because of the absence of a party quota. Sinn Féin did not contest the election and supported the Independent Ms Kathy Sinnott, who almost took a seat, and a variety of other candidates across the parties based on geographical and other factors.
The success of the Fine Gael strategy was critical to its rebuilding of the party. Mr Kenny, in his series of regional meetings, met the local councillors and put the requirement of securing the election of future TDs to the Seanad before them.
They dislike being patronised or told what to do by the leadership, so he issued them with no instructions to vote in a certain way. He stressed their role in reviving the party, following the general election meltdown, and they came on side.
Mr Coghlan, a Killarney businessman, was the sole survivor of the established Fine Gael senators, defying party headquarters. "He is the one fish who got away," said a party official. "He is brilliant."
An early indication that the strategy was working came in the count for the first of the panels, Cultural and Educational.
Outgoing senator, Ms Madeleine Taylor Quinn, lost out to Mr Brian Hayes, who was defeated in Dublin South West, and Mr Noel Coonan, who is leading the charge to win back the party's Tipperary North seat.
The pattern continued in future counts. Senior Fine Gael Seanad figures, who might have expected to end their political days in the Upper House, were defeated. They included Mr John Connor, Ms Mary Jackman, Ms Helen Keogh, Ms Therese Ridge and Mr Fintan Coogan. Those who secured seats and will be contesting the next general election include: Mr Paul Bradford, Cork East; Mr Ulick Burke, Galway East; Mr Michael Finucane, Limerick West; and Ms Sheila Terry, Dublin West.
The party will launch a strong challenge to recover its second seat in Carlow-Kilkenny, following the election of Mr Feargal Browne, from Carlow, an unsuccessful general election candidate, and Mr John Paul Phelan, a 23-year-old councillor from south Kilkenny.
Waterford, too, will be targeted for a gain, following the election of a city councillor, Mr Maurice Cummins, who is expected to join the sitting TD, Mr John Deasy, on the general election ticket.
The way was paved for a challenge for a second seat in Longford-Roscommon, with the election of a Longford-based councillor, Mr James Bannon, and a Roscommon councillor, Mr Frank Feighan.
The election of Mr Joe McHugh, a councillor from the Milford electoral area, provides the party with a high-profile Dáil candidate in Donegal North East the next time.
Mr Jim Higgins, a surprise Fine Gael loser in Mayo in the general election, is expected to be a candidate in Connacht-Ulster in the next European elections.
