FIANNA F�IL:FIANNA FÁIL Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú has denied his move to seek the party's support to run as an Independent presidential election candidate has undermined party leader Micheál Martin.
Mr Ó Murchú’s unexpected move will be decided on next Tuesday when the parliamentary party meets again. Last night it remained unclear what impact Sinn Féin’s decision to nominate Martin McGuinness as its presidential candidate would have on Mr Ó Murchú’s bid. The Co Tipperary Senator welcomed Mr McGuinness’s entry into the campaign, however, and said the more candidates there were, the more in-depth the debate on the presidency would be.
He said he was “quite innocent” of any charge of undermining the party leader. While the party was not running an internal candidate, the decision was made to allow for “other options”, and he hoped for a “free vote by the party’s TDs and Senators”, claiming that before Thursday’s marathon parliamentary party meeting he had the support of 10 of the party’s Oireachtas members.
He had been approached by people “independent of politics” in the summer who offered their support “in areas such as transport” should he be nominated. He was also approached by Independent TDs calling for him to run.
Mr Ó Murchú (72), árd stiurthóir (director general) of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann for almost 40 years, said as a candidate he would be prepared to answer any questions, but when asked his Comhaltas salary he declined to answer and said it was a peripheral issue, a private job, and other candidates were not asked to reveal such incomes.
Séamus MacCormaic, president of Comhaltas, which promotes all aspects of traditional Irish culture, said none of the paid officials earned more than a principal officer in the Civil Service, and that when the organisation was short of funding Mr Ó Murchú’s salary “or part of his salary has been ploughed back into Comhaltas”.
Mr Ó Murchú was also involved in a dispute in the Clontarf branch of Comhaltas, which was dissolved by the parent body in 2008 in a disagreement over spending and governance, along with a €740,000 VAT rebate that was repaid to the Revenue Commissioners.
While former members are still in dispute with Comhaltas, Mr Ó Murchú claimed the issue had been resolved in a democratic way and said the doors remained open to those former members.
The Senator said these and other issues were peripheral. In relation to a controversy over his accommodation at the organisation’s headquarters in Dublin, he said he paid above the going hotel rate each night he stayed there to help the organisation’s funding.
He said he was not a “celebrity Senator, but that doesn’t mean you’re not engaging with people”. He had made a “prolific contribution in the Seanad”.
He had received a Dublin civic honour, and was cited for his contribution to peace and reconciliation. He has also received the Tipperary person of the year award, and is chairman of the Irish Family History Foundation, an all-island genealogical association. Mr Ó Murchú rejected claims he had opposed modernisation within Comhaltas, which has 450 branches worldwide, including 300 in Ireland.
