Why, it is being asked, is there no byelection in Dublin South Central to fill the vacancy created by the untimely death of Pat Upton in February. Surely, it is said, June 11th - when the country goes to the polls for the local and Euro elections - would be an ideal date. By custom the writ is moved by the party that suffered the loss but to date there has been no budge from Labour. Rivals have been heard to mutter "if the boot was on the other foot" and words to that effect.
Labour says it will move in the autumn. To act now would distract attention from South Central as the electors will already be facing three ballot papers next month, with a referendum on local government as well. In any case, they say, the byelection in Cork South Central after Hugh Coveney died wasn't held for six months and there was an 18-month wait before the last byelection in the very constituency at issue now. The real reason, of course, as everyone in Leinster House knows is that they can't go ahead while there is a huge row in the constituency. Old Labour, which includes the Upton camp, is at loggerheads over who should stand with new Labour, which insists former DL deputy Eric Byrne is the obvious candidate. Indeed Labour opposition to the merger was, and still is, very strong in South Central. A pre-merger internal document said "the proposal is a recipe for discord and conflict".