The first meeting of the new Seanad will be held this Thursday and Roscommon Fianna Fail Senator Terry Leyden is one of the candidates who will put his name forward to be elected as Cathaoirleach. Senator Leyden has put his hat into the ring for the job but the hardest part for Senator Leyden will be to secure the Fianna Fail nomination. It is believed that there are a number of other Fianna Fail Senators interested in the job. Speaking to The People on Wednesday Senator Leyden said that he was working away on his campaign. ‘I’m canvassing away but I am note sure how many candidates there will be or who wants the job as yet. I know that Senator Ann Ormonde has expressed her interest and I know that there will be a few more too – but they havn’t declared their interest yet. ‘It would be great to secure the FF nomination as the Greens and the PDs will support that candidate and we have a 32/28 majority. However there is na long way to go and it’s not certain at all yet who our nominee will be. I have put my name forward and I am available to do the job if equired’ said Senator Leyden. ‘The most important thing is that I have been re-elected. If I get the cathaoirleach’s job, that’s fine, but you have to sacrifice a lot of things to do that job so there are plusses and minuses involved. We will have to see how it goes’ he concluded. It is believed that a lot will depend on the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and who his preference might be for the cathaoirleach’s job. The Fianna Fail group will meet on Monday or Tuesday next week to decide on who they will be putting forward as a candidate and the first official meeting of the new Seanad will take place on Thursday 13th September at 2.30 pm.
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