Senator Murphy announces details of election launch as an independent candidate
Senator Eugene Murphy.
Former Fianna Fáil senator Eugene Murphy, who will be standing as an Independent in the upcoming general election, will officially launch his campaign tomorrow evening in the Percy French Hotel in Strokestown at 8.pm..
After weeks of speculation, the Scramogue man announced on Monday that he would be contesting the election as an independent candidate.
Last week, he was told by the Fianna Fáil party headquarters that he would not be added to the Roscommon-Galway ticket.
The senator had strongly argued that a Roscommon candidate was needed to run alongside Ballygar’s Dr Martin Daly, who defeated his former party colleague by eight votes at a Fianna Fáil convention.
“It has been very tough, a lot of soul searching,” Senator Murphy told the Herald. “I have worked with Fianna Fáil since I was 15 years of age. I am over 40 years with the party. I think I have served the party well, I owe it nothing. I am really sad for the Fianna Fáil grassroots, some of them will come with me, some of them won’t, I understand that.”
He added: “I still cannot comprehend why the party wouldn’t run a candidate in County Roscommon and give people that choice in the county of Roscommon.”
He said that 82 per cent of the constituency’s vote was in County Roscommon.
“Fianna Fáil should be electing two TDs from this constituency. It was a huge decision for me to put my party second on this occasion, and to put my county first.”
