GAA's Aogán dismisses FG approach

 

Seamus Enright

On Saturday last the Irish Independent reported the main Government party had contacted primary school principal Mr Ó Fearghail, whose Croke Park tenure comes to an end early next year.
Fine Gael were reportedly looking to repeat the success it has had when backing former GAA president Sean Kelly, who has beensuccessful in two European elections, by recruiting Ó Fearghail to their ranks.
But in a statement to The Anglo-Celt this week, a spokesperson from Croke Park stated that the Drumgoon man would be making no direct comment in relation to the speculative article, only to say that he remains "fully focused on his duties as GAA President, and will be for the remainder of his tenure. He has given no active consideration to run for any political party."
Should Mr Ó Fearghail in fact entertain the idea of entering the political arena rather than the sporting one, it may present problems for local party stalwart, Senator Joe O'Reilly. Senator O'Reilly only just narrowly missed out on retaining his seat in the 2015 General Election, losing out in the end to Fianna Fail's Niamh Smyth in the tenth count, both candidates being from Bailieborough Town.
However, with the realignment and reunification of the Cavan-Monaghan constituency, bolstering the number of seats available from four to five, the still hugely popular Senator O'Reilly had previously voiced hopes to run once again to become a TD.An unsuccessful attempt was made to contact Senator O'Reilly for comment.