“Joe McHugh was delivering for Donegal and should have kept his gaeltacht job”
ONE of Fine Gael’s longest serving grassroots members in Co Donegal has called on party leader Enda Kenny to step down.
Hugh McClafferty from Dooey in Downings has been one FG’s strongest advocates for over 35 years and on RnaG he said be believed Enda Kenny should step down within twelve months.
He also criticised the decision to move Joe McHugh from his post.
He said that would give the new leader time to stamp their own imprint on the leadership.
McClafferty said: “The feeling of the grassroots is that the Taoiseach wanted to retain power at all costs because be wanted to create history by being the first FG Taoiseach to be returned to power.
“That was putting personal achievement ahead of the party.”
And he says that Deputy Joe McHugh should not have lost the Gaeltacht portfolio in the shakeup of the Junior Ministers.
“People are glad that Deputy McHugh retained a Junior Ministry, but they would have preferred it had be retained the Gaeltacht Ministry. He had done well and has delivered well for Donegal,” he added.
Commenting on the current status of FG in Donegal where the party holds six of 37 seats on the Council and where they’ve had to cope with a major loss of support since the last local elections, Hugh McClafferty said there is much rebuilding to be done and the new young generation of voters must be encouraged to join Fine Gael.
He said that they were going to start a recruitment drive for young voters and that job actually began two weeks ago at their Letterkenny and Milford District meeting.
At that meeting in Logue’s of Cranford a good attendance, said McClafferty, set out to plan for the future and a number of appointments were made to the officer board.
These include Stephen Shevlin of Downings who is the new Chairperson. Also elected were Gary Coll. Letterkenny as Secretary and Pat Finneran of Milford as Treasurer. Lexie Diver, Kilmacrennan was appointed as the District Organiser. Aaron Sweeney of Cranford is Press Officer.
Mr. McClafferty said that his views aired in RnaG were widely backed by the local grassroots members and there had been no negative feedback. He said party members who contacted him said his views were widely held within the local structures of the organisation.
“Even though the local elections are three years away we must start our preparations now to ensure that we increase our council membership in the Letterkenny and Milford areas and with the right choices I believe that can be achieved,” he tells today’s Tirconaill Tribune.
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