Fine Gael put their hopes in Gay, but did Enda really want Cox?

Fine Gael are putting Gay Mitchell forward as their candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections, but Enda doesn't seem that happy about it.

Gay Mitchell is to represent Fine Gael at the presidential elections after beating fellow hopefuls Mairead McGuinness MEP and Pat Cox.

A meeting of the party was convened at the Regency Hotel in Swords on Saturday afternoon, where a vote was taken. Mitchell, who is currently a Fine Gael MEP, won 41 of the 94 initial votes cast compared with 30 for McGuinness and 23 for Cox.

With Cox eliminated, Mitchell went on to win the second vote by 55 per cent to 45 per cent.

Enda Kenny had been accused of covertly backing the former Independent MEP Pat Cox, but he insisted that he would not be weighing in behind any one candidate ahead of the vote. However, the Sunday Independent reported that the Taoiseach "slumped and could barely contain his disappointment" at the moment that Mitchell was declared to have won the nomination.

When Mitchell announced that he was to take a week's holiday, Kenny took a thinly veiled swipe saying, "Take your holidays and enjoy it because, believe you me, when you come back you better be ready for one hell of a campaign."

Mitchell managed his own dig back, by pointing out that his win had been a victory for the real party hierarchy.

"We are the hierarchy, the parliamentary party; the executive council made a very firm point. They re-established themselves and made a very firm point as to who makes the decisions," he said.

When a reporter reported on Kenny's apparent look of disappointment, Kenny retorted, "Am I supposed to be going around grinning like a Cheshire cat at everything?"

Mitchell later used Twitter to express his gratitude: "My sincere thanks to those who voted for me. We need to unite as a party. The real work starts here"