Paul Murphy
A right old political ding-dong has blown up between a Ratoath community worker who is an aspirant presidential candidate and Aontú at the way the party handled a Dublin caucus it organised for potential candidates to make their case to TDs and Senators. Lorna McCormack is one of 17 candidates invited to a special meeting of Meath County Council on Monday as they seek a nomination for the upcoming Presidential election. McCormack who is CEO of Wool in School and also a European Climate Ambassador and heritage specialist.

She has made a number of claims about the way the Dublin caucus was put together by Aontú, claims that are heavily rebutted by Aontú Party leader Peadar Tóibín  when he was asked to comment by Meath Live. Lorna McCormack that when she was invited she didn’t know what she was going into because she “wasn’t given a venue or anything until I was given a call 20 minutes before the meeting and told to
arrive in town and be in the vicinity of the Dail and then they would call me to let me know where I was to go. It was all very cloak and dagger”.

She also says that they didn’t allow her to bring anyone with her and when she arrived there were three other potential candidates there along with TDs and Senators. She says there were three possible candidates at the agricultural building. including Maria Steen whom, she said, She said that Declan Ganley was there but she believed he was not a candidate “even though he was making out that he was”.

Ms McCormack said that while she didn’t expect to have to make a presentation in front of other candidates, that was the format of the meeting. The candidate Maria Steen received seven votes and McCormack two. McCormack also asked to see the ballot “for the sake of transparency”.

In her presentation she said that she was “a different kind of candidate” to which someone (she doesn’t know who but the person was on zoom) shouted out “For f***s sake”. She differs with the chairperson of the meeting, Aontú leader Peadar Toibin, when he was quoted as saying that people had approached him for his help in getting them a nomination.

Aontú Leader Deputy Peadar Tóibín insists all was fair at the process.

“He asked me to the meeting. OK I approached him months ago because I was going around getting a feel about what it was all about.
That was a long time ago and then he got in touch sometime last week saying that the meeting was going to happen and he would let me know on the day who to meet up with. It was very cloak and dagger. I didn’t ask for this meeting, he came to me. He asked me to attend”.

She says she felt the process “wasn’t very fair” because I was told I couldn’t bring anybody with me but Maria Steen had a pack with her. They were all there ready to go. I also felt I wasn’t asked enough questions and I just felt she was asked a lot of questions. I didn’t think it was fair to have everybody speaking in front of one another. And then Declan Ganley said he would support Maria Steen and said she would make a great president”.

In retrospect she said she was glad she went to the meeting because she got the impression that some people felt she doesn’t have “this backbone that they keep talking about because that’s what was said to me”. She said that it was stated at the meeting “it’s more dangerous to have somebody with no backbone than a backbone in the Aras” – she says that Peadar Tóibín  said this to her after she had asked to see the ballot. “He probably doesn’t know me at all”.

“I sat there and did what I had to do and I’m proud of the fact that I did”. She says that in any publicity about the caucus meeting – before or after – her name has been “left out”. Three candidates have been mentioned “and for some reason my name has been left out”.
“I went there [to the caucus] in good faith and to see what this was about”. Asked to sum up her experience with the caucus she says she found it “a bit off.”

Deputy Tóibín  said that Lorna McCormack had asked a number of times to meet him about the nomination process. She had called into his constituency office and asked for his help to get nominated either as an independent or an Aontu candidate. “We would not run a person to such high office that we did not know at all”, he said. She was “friendly and personable” but he said he was honest with her by saying a big part of getting elected as president and that most people “including myself did not know who she was and name recognition was a big factor”.

A couple of weeks later she had emailed again and asked if she could be part of the selection caucus he had organised. He said he had included her because she was from Meath and seemed like a nice person. He said the three other candidates present were well known in political and media circles and Lorna was the only one not well known. “The vast majority of TDs and Senators there did not know who
she was. However, I felt that she was making an effort and decided to help her”.

He found it very odd that she had said her asked her to participate, saying that that was not true because he had an email she sent him which proved that  she requested to participate. He emphasised that the TDs and Senators wanted the caucus to be private because the media spotlight often made it harder for decisions to be made. It had taken a lot of delicate work to put the caucus together, he said.

Everyone had been given the date, time and general location of Leinster House well in advance. The venue had not been given until 20 minutes beforehand for fear of a leak and a huddle of journalists forming at the entrance, thus preventing a private meeting.
All candidates were told not to bring an entourage with them.

One candidate (Maria Steen) did bring friends “but these were removed before the meeting started and brought to a waiting room elsewhere”. All candidates agreed to Chatham House rules, meaning that the meeting would remain private. This was very normal in these situations and allowed people to speak freely without fear of being quoted. “That’s why it is a huge disappointment that after going out on a limb to include Lorna, she has gone back on that commitment”, Deputy Toibin said.

Referring to the “for f***s sake” remark, he said that one TD, who is an older man, was having problems with zoom and let out an expletive “as he could not get his sound to work properly”. He said that most people understood this and laughed – it was in no way related to Lorna’s presentation”.

He said Ms McCormack seemed to complaint about giving her pitch in front of other candidates but this is what happened in virtually all hustings. She had also complained that she wasn’t mentioned in the publicity afterwards although others had but he said he had never
mentioned any of the candidates except the winning candidate in any public communication. Deputy Toibin said that it was a pity that after doing Lorna a favour that she had been less than accurate about the meeting “Would I help a person with no political experience and little chance of a nomination again? Yes, despite this experience. It’s really important that every citizen has a chance to participate in the political process.”

*Explainer
Who is Lorna McCormack? A native of Swords, Co Dublin Lorna McCormack lives in Ratoath. She is a sustainability advocate, social care worker and community activist and her foundation for her bid for the Aras lies in her interest in climate action and preserving Ireland’s heritage. Although she has been below the political radar, she is known for founding Wool in School, an educational drive centred on wool and sustainability.

She says that she has long championed the role of education in facing up to climate change. She said that What is Wool?” has spurted into a countrywide programme of interactive workshops, large-scale art projects and resources for schools and families. This promotes wool as a craft and textile material but also promotes its value as a sustainable biodegradable and hypoallergenic alternative to synthetic fabrics.

She also runs Feirm VR which introduces children to farming practices. She is also pursuing a master’s degree in agricultural innovation with the University of Galway. Locally, she has played a role in connecting communities through cross-generational learning projects aligning her work with Ireland’s Education for Sustainable Development Strategy 2030.