Is Michael McDowell considering a run for the Seanad?

the subtle humour of "the irish times"
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Reading his interview with the Sindo a few weeks back many would have wondered at his reversal of his long held position over the role and need for the Seanad, then Jason ponders if he could have a future role in Irish politics as a kinder gentler Michael. Though it was queried who could he run for and  where might he run. After all unlike Nixon he couldn’t run for an equivalent lower office such as governor of California because we don’t have them. Mayor of Dublin is likely to be too administrative for someone of the policy inclination of Michael McDowell.

From those seeds I began to wonder if this means that he could consider a run via the university panels for the Seanad. As someone who ran (and might do so again) the biggest single problem is name recognition, even above that of cost. Michael McDowell starts with that as a given. He might be seen by some as a divisive figure and not likely to be that transfer friendly but if he polled reasonably over 12% he would be well placed to get a seat based on previous elections and where else would you get elected in a 3 seater with that.

In other Seanad related matters in recent weeks, we’ve been Feargal Quinn up his profile with an interview in the Sunday Times along with his TV show on rescuing/revamping small retailers. I wonder if he has sensed something in the wind too.

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One Response to Is Michael McDowell considering a run for the Seanad?

  1. Funny thing about the Seanad in that it reflects what an national open list election might look like. Strongest candidates tend to have done something else in life quite sucessfully before going into politics, and the non-geographical nature of it means that they tend to be identified with a platform (Ross, centre right, Bacik, centre left, O’Toole Unions or Quinn business.) as opposed to a parish.

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