A Seanad byelection in a little over two weeks which, in the normal course of events would have been regarded as a minor piece of political news, has suddenly become a crucial test of Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s authority.

The controversy that flared over how the official Government candidate John McNulty from Donegal was appointed to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art has turned into a real headache for Mr Kenny.

The issue dominated the Fine Gael and Labour parliamentary party meetings last Wednesday. Subsequently some TDs and Senators from both parties expressed a reluctance to vote for Mr McNulty. Fine Gael backbenchers John Deasy from Waterford and Sean Conlon from Monaghan went public with highly critical comments about the Taoiseach and the Minister for Arts and Heritage, Heather Humphreys.

Step further

However, it is still not clear whether they or other members of the Fine Gael and Labour parliamentary parties will go one step further and refuse to vote for Mr McNulty.

The electorate for Seanad byelections is composed of the members of the Dáil and Seanad. On paper the Government has a comfortable majority of 131 votes to 92 and it would take at least 20 defections to deprive Mr McNulty of the seat. While that is regarded as very unlikely, the vote will now be examined closely to see if there is any serious slippage on the Government side.

“It really depends on whether most Government TDs and Senators regard this affair as a silly thing that slipped through the cracks or as a serious perversion of the political process. It is too early to make a judgment on that,” said one Fine Gael TD.

Another said that, while some people might be tempted to register a protest by not voting for Mr McNulty, the fear of the political instability that would inevitably develop if he does badly may well prompt them to stay in line.

Snubbed

One senior Fine Gael figure who was privately critical of the Taoiseach’s handling of the whole episode claimed that the most strident criticism was coming from TDs who felt snubbed because constituency colleagues had been elevated in the recent reshuffle. “The irony here is that those who are complaining most loudly about stroke politics have obvious internal constituency agendas and everybody in the party knows that,” he added.

Mr Kenny was not at last week’s meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party as he was in New York for a meeting of the United Nations general assembly so TDs and Senators will be hoping that he will be able to put the issue to rest at this week’s meeting on Wednesday.

Concern was also expressed in the Labour Party about voting for Mr McNulty with Meath TD Dominic Hannigan and Clare TD Michael McNamara raising the prospect of not supporting the Fine Gael candidate.

However, the Labour leadership has made it clear the party does not want to get involved in the controversy.

Whatever happens, the outcome of the byelection on October 10th will be watched more closely than any similar contest in the past