Fianna Fail boss denies 'personality rift' over Cooper-Flynn

By TOM KELLY

A prominent figure in Fianna Fail's 'master plan' to win three of the five Mayo seats in the forthcoming General Election has denied a rift existed between him and the party's Castlebar-based candidate Beverley Cooper-Flynn.

Al McDonnell, chairman of the powerful Castlebar Fianna Fail Comhairle Ceantair, refused to be drawn into a controversy over an alleged personality clash with the 33-years-old bank executive.

McDonnell, who lost out to Coope -Flynn in the battle for the nomination before the 1994 West Mayo by-election, said it would be ill-advised of him to come out in support of any one of the four Fianna Fail candidates running in the pending election.

"I will be behind each of them one hundred per cent. But I am not prepared to single out one ahead of the other.

"The party has yet to draft the geographical divisions for the election. There has been no instruction that members should vote in a particular way.

"Members within the party will have their own preferences. I don't know what the vote preference will be in the Castlebar electoral area.

"I will not support one candidate to the exclusion of another. That is a very dangerous road to go down.

"It is important the party is disciplined, and I will be appealing to members and supporters to vote along party lines. It is the only way we can hope to be successful. It was how we were successful in the past."

McDonnell, a member of Mayo County Council and the Western Health Board, made the point that people were not as committed to particular parties as they were in former times. "The floating vote is far greater and far more significant that it used to be, and it is vital for Fianna Fail as a party to fully appreciate that point."

PROPER DISCIPLINE

"I think the vote is definitely there, going on the 1992 General Election figures," he explained.

But McDonnell, a company director, feared the T.V. deflector issue could play as influential a role in the election as the rod licence dispute did in 1989 when the Fianna Fail vote in Mayo dropped by almost five per cent.

He stated: "I don't think any one party is to blame for the deflector systems being switched off. But I am convinced our national politicians did not properly research the legislation governing deflector operators when it was introduced some years ago. They are now paying the price."

McDonnell claimed the proposed cable and MMDS replacement systems were 'limited' and would not operate successfully in all parts of Mayo.

"The deflector systems has been shown to the best suited for this county, and every effort should be made to have the signal turned back on."