No Cowen on ballot paper confirms end of two Laois Offaly family dynasties

No one from the Cowen families in Offaly will seek a nomination from Fianna Fáil to fill the Dáil vacancy created by the election of Barry Cowen to the European Parliament.

Offaly's first MEP, who will take his seat on July 16 when the new parliament meets in Strasbourg, ruled out any Cowen candidacy.

Asked to comment on speculation that one of his children might run, or indeed one of his brother Brian's children, Barry Cowen said: “There is none of them interested and there's no one in the extended family interested. There won't be a Cowen on the ballot paper.”

Barry Cowen was elected to the European Parliament in the Midlands North West constituency having sat in the Dail since 2011 when he won the seat held by his older brother Brian since 1984.

Prior to that their father Ber was in the Dail from 1969 to 1973, in the Seanad from 1973 to 1977 and in the Dail from 1977 until his sudden death in 1984. Ber's father Christy was on Offaly County Council from 1932 to 1967.

Barry Cowen was one of five TDs elected to the Laois-Offaly constituency in the Dail election of 2020 and either a bye-election  or a general election (which will be in the three-seat Offaly constituency) will have to take place to find his replacement.

The 56-year-old Clara man said his party has won seats in both the local and European elections and consideration of the Fianna Fail candidate will take place in the autumn.

“We'll deal with one step at a time. We've just fought and succeeded in two elections and now we've to take our places in the respective forums and let them bed down first and let everyone have a summer and see where we're at in September,” he said.

The absence of a Cowen from a ballot paper in Laois or Offaly marks the end of an era for two family dynasties in the Midlands constituency dating back eight decades.

Former Fine Gael Minister and Laois-based TD is also stepping aside at the next General Election. He served two terms in the Dáil from 1987 to 2002 and 2007 to 2016. His father Oliver J served as a TD for the Laois-Offaly constituency from 1943 to 1987.

Neither Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael have lined up potential replacements to run in two three-seat constituencies at the next General Election. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

Reflecting on the European election (pictured below is Mr Cowen celebrating at the count in Castlebar), which saw him win one of the five seats in the Midlands North West constituency, Mr Cowen said he was very grateful to everyone who voted for him and all who helped him during the campaign.

“Grateful to the local organisation and the organisation around the constituency for the manner in which they rowed in behind my candidacy and assisted my team in ensuring a very full and committed canvass,” he said.

He received 73,908 votes on the first count and won the second seat with 115,977 on the 20^th count, helped by transfers from his party running mates, the senators Lisa Chambers, Mayo and Niall Blaney, Donegal.

“Humbled by the size of the vote and the sufficiency of it and proud obviously and looking forward to and excited by the role and all it entails,” he said.

He had campaigned on delivery for the region on energy infrastructure and a just transition towards decarbonisation.

“I look forward towards honouring the commitments given during the course of the campaign and hopefully be in a position to make progress on the priorities I mentioned.”

The European election campaign in Midlands North West, which comprises 15 counties from Laois up to Donegal, was characterised by tension between the three Fianna Fail politicians in the field.

Mr Cowen was the first choice when Fianna Fail members met to choose their candidates, with Senator Blaney coming second. The party then decided to add the third-place finisher, Senator Chambers.

“Being selected by the convention was a great endorsement in the first instance,” said Mr Cowen.

“Thereafter the decision [to add Senator Chambers] was a surprise but we ran with it and worked with it to ensure it yielded results. To be fair, they got reasonably good votes, both of them.”

Senator Chambers secured 44,069 first preferences and Senator Blaney 30,387. “They contributed handsomely to my election and I'm very grateful and appreciative to them for that. We had no seat going in and we have one coming out so it's a huge success. We'll never know if two had ran would it have yielded two.”

Fine Gael won two seats as Maria Walsh retained hers and newcomer Nina Carberry, a retired jockey from Meath, was also successful.  Luke 'Ming' Flanagan, the Independent candidate from Roscommon, topped the poll and was re-elected.