The choir boys waited until the crescendo to enact their revenge on Kate O'Connell. Or was it the decrescendo? The Fine Gael selection process for Seanad nominations is the political equivalent of the FAI League of Ireland Cup fourth round, with less talent.

Yet, the decision to exclude O'Connell from the party's list of nominees for the forthcoming upper chamber election is being seen by many in the party as the ultimate act of political vindictiveness.

Senior Fine Gael figures say O'Connell's intervention in the Fine Gael leader contest almost three years ago has festered with Leo Varadkar's inner circle.

The Dublin Bay South TD, who backed Simon Coveney, described Varadkar's supporters as "choirboys" who were "singing for their suppers".

It didn't go down well among the Taoiseach's key lieutenants such as Eoghan Murphy, John Paul Phelan and Michael D'Arcy.

She has been less than supportive of Murphy, her now former constituency colleague, in some of her public comments. She also didn't do the party a lot of favours when she said she was "embarrassed" by the state of the Children's Hospital in Crumlin.

But she is recognised in Fine Gael as one of their strongest performers in the Dail, at committee hearings and in the media. The Kilbeggan woman narrowly lost out on a seat in the General Election while her running mate Murphy was re-elected.

She was naturally disappointed and resigned to leaving public life. The pharmacy business she runs with her husband, Morgan, paid the bills, so money was not an issue.

After a gruelling General Election campaign, she had little interest in putting her name forward for the Seanad and told supporters she would not be running. However, party sources say significant pressure was put on O'Connell to put her name forward for an inside party nomination.

She got calls from everyone - Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney, Frances Fitzgerald and Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran, who encouraged her to seek a nomination.

O'Connell and her team believed the party wanted her to run for the Seanad, so she reconsidered and put her name forward.

"She was inundated with calls from people asking her to run and she was told she was guaranteed a nomination," a party source said.

She decided to hold off on seeking an outside nomination, which are 10 a penny, because she was given the impression she did not need one.

There was some objection to her candidacy in her constituency but she was still selected. But last Thursday evening, she got a call from Fine Gael HQ telling her she was not among the 13 nominations picked for the Seanad.

The party chose just three women - none ever elected to the Dail and one was Varadkar's running mate Emer Currie who got just over 1,800 first preference votes in the election.

O'Connell was taken aback by her exclusion and so were former parliamentary party colleagues, who believe she was "strung along".

"The pettiness and vindictiveness of this decision was extraordinary," one TD said.

"The message is clear - Fine Gael don't want strong women in the party," another said. A source involved in choosing the Seanad candidates was told "go for it is not the same as getting".

The source said O'Connell was the "author of her own misfortune" and added that the Fine Gael base believes Varadkar has been "too soft" on her and other TDs who caused him difficulties.