LAST UPDATE | 6 hrs ago
EX-FINE GAEL TD Kate O’Connell will stand as an Independent in the general election after missing out on selection for the party.
The decision to go it alone came as Fine Gael completed its ticket for Dublin Bay South – selecting a city councillor over the former Dáil deputy.
Emma Blain was added to the Dublin Bay South ticket alongside Lord Mayor of Dublin James Geoghegan following a meeting of Fine Gael’s Executive Council yesterday.
O’Connell claimed that she made the decision partly due to anger at the “wastage” of public money as featured in recent controversies.
“I want to win a seat and I believe looking at the lie of the land the best way to do that — and to be true to my values and my principles, the value and principles that I hold dear — is to run Independent,” she told the Sunday Independent.
She …