Fionnán Sheahan: Enda Kenny rouses Fine Gael troops, but Mairead McGuinness donning the Blueshirt demeans her EU role

Mairead McGuinness gave a less-than-rousing introduction speech for Simon Harris at Fine Gael’s ard fheis. Photo: Getty

Fionnán Sheahan

The ghost of Simon Harris’s long-lost cousin, Maria Bailey, emerged at the Fine Gael ard fheis. No, she wasn’t one of those welcomed back into the “family” now that Leo Varadkar has been vanquished. Five years ago, her swing-gate compo claim controversy was blamed for costing the party seats in the 2019 local elections and she was subsequently kicked off the general election ticket. But it was all a bit of a shambles.

The shafting of Bailey started out as a motion at the end of a branch meeting taking place above a pub. Now Fine Gael is putting specific procedures in place on how to oust a TD, senator, MEP or councillor – just in case it happens again. Fine Gael headquarters said the matter arose on a couple of occasions. It’s just nobody can remember another instance beyond the Bailey controversy.