Former rugby international Hugo MacNeill is to seek a seat in Seanad Eireann in the contest that will follow the general election next month.
The former Triple Crown winner and British and Irish Lions player has spoken to politicians about his ambition to take one of the three seats chosen by graduates of Trinity College Dublin. They are currently held by the Labour Party’s Ivana Bacik and independents David Norris and Lynn Ruane.
MacNeill’s wife, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, is a general election candidate for Fine Gael in Dun Laoghaire. Asked to confirm that her husband intends standing for the Seanad, she said: “He is interested in doing public service.” MacNeill himself also indicated he is interested in becoming a senator.
The 61-year-old is the chairman of the British Irish Association and Trinity College’s ambassador for its Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities. He also chaired a working group for Ireland’s unsuccessful bid to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Another Fine Gael family with political expansion plans is that of Kate O’Connell, a TD for Dublin Bay South. Her sister, Mary Newman Julian, is a first-time general election candidate for the party in Tipperary. Now Theresa Newman, another sister who has been O’Connell’s political adviser in Leinster House, has confirmed she may contest the Seanad election.
“I am considering it but only if Kate and Mary get elected to the Dail,” she said yesterday. “If one of them doesn’t, she might need to go for the Seanad.”
John Hanafin has confirmed his intention to contest the elections for the upper house. A former senator, his father was the late Des Hanafin, who retired from the Seanad in 2002.
Hanafin’s sister, Mary, a former minister for education, is standing in the general election for Fianna Fail in Dun Laoghaire.
Eoghan Murphy, the minister for local government, is expected to issue the order for the Seanad elections next week, setting a February deadline for nominations. Votes are likely to be counted in March.
