Poll deals blow to PDs' new hope O'Gorman

Monday November 13th 2006

AN OPINION poll has delivered a major setback to high-profile PD candidate Colm O'Gorman.

It shows that the founder of the One-In-Four charity for victims of sexual abuse would be eliminated on the first count in Wexford.

Mr O'Gorman came to national prominence after highlighting the sexual abuse that he and others suffered at the hands of the late Fr Sean Fortune in the Diocese of Ferns.

His entry to politics was announced with fanfare by the PDs last April, when he agreed to contest a seat in his native Wexford constituency for the party.

PD chiefs believed his entry to the contest would give the party a real chance of winning a seat in what would be an unlikely constituency for them.

At the time, his candidacy was considered a significant coup for the then PD leader Mary Harney. But the TNS/MRBI poll for TG4 shows the would-be TD polling just 1pc of the vote.

More worryingly for Mr O'Gorman and the PDs, fieldwork for the poll was conducted during the week that Pope Benedict XVI publicly apologised for the abuse in Ferns.

Publicity

Mr O'Gorman got considerable publicity for his statement welcoming the apology but criticising the Pope for the failure of the Vatican to implement mandatory child protection policies. Last night, Mr O'Gorman said the poll made "stark reading" but he was determined to continue his campaign.

"It is bizarre that it suggests I have no support in Wexford town or Gorey, where I have strong bases. That does not tally with our campaign on the ground." He said the poll asked the opinions of a sample of 500 voters from a constituency where over 100,000 would vote. "I never imagined I could just put my name on a ballot paper and get people to vote. Work has to be put into a campaign, and that is what we are doing. We need to translate the good response on the doorsteps into votes," he said.

The Wexford poll, conducted towards the end of October, shows Fianna Fail and Fine Gael each winning two seats and Labour's Brendan Howlin also comfortably winning a seat. Using sample ballot papers, the results showed John Browne (FF) with 29pc support; Brendan Howlin (Lab) 19pc; Paul Kehoe (FG) 14pc; Liam Twomey (FG) 9pc; Sean Connick (FF), Michael D'Arcy (FG) and John Dwyer (SF) all with 8pc; Lisa McDonald (FF) 4pc, and Colm O'Gorman (PD) with 1pc. These figures show that on the first count, Mr Browne would be elected with a comfortable surplus, along with Mr Howlin. Mr Kehoe would take the third seat, with party colleague Dr Twomey just about taking the fourth seat. The final seat would be a battle between Mr Connick and Mr D'Arcy, with the Fianna Fail candidate winning out.

Brian Dowling

? Irish Independet