NO approaches have been made and defeated general election Independent candidate Jimmy Harte has no immediate plans whatsoever to rejoin the Fine Gael party.
Speaking to the Donegal News, the Letterkenny councillor admitted he was hugely disappointed after polling just 1,313 first preference votes in Donegal North East but he had no plans to rejoin the party his father, Paddy, served as a TD for 36 years until he lost his seat back in 1997.
"I've no notion about it at this stage and I'm sure Fine Gael people haven't thought about it either," he said.
"That said, I have a lot of friends in Fine Gael but I haven 't even contemplated the idea of rejoining the Fine Gael party. That's not for this week. The dust has to settle now and maybe after the summer the political landscape will be different. A week is a long time in politics and you never close the door on anything but I'm now going to concentrate more on my business, my family and my role as an elected councillor in the Letterkenny area," he added," he added.
Councillor Harte ran as an Independent after the party opted for the single candidate strategy in the constituency in the form of Joe McHugh who topped the poll with a staggering 8,711 first preference votes.
"I left the Fine Gael party but my family have never left the Fine Gael tradition. However, my mandate is for the electorate in the Letterkenny area and that will be my focus and I will be continuing to work for the people on local issues," he said.
He said a number of factors had contributed to his poor showing.
"The Fine Gael vote stayed very tight and the fact the party was being tipped to go into government had a bearing along with the fact that we lost parts of Lifford-Raphoe into the South West which affected me," he said.
He paid tribute to poll topper Joe McHugh.
"I want to congratulate Joe on a magnificent performance. At the end of the day the Fine Gael seat is back in the constituency and I wish him all the best for the next five years along with the other two TDs Dr James McDaid and Niall Blaney. The task ahead now for them is to deliver to the people of Donegal and I'm sure they'll be well reminded of that," he said.
"I still believe if Fine Gael had run two candidates they would have won the seat but the 'mixed messages' from party headquarters didn't help. I was getting tentative approaches and it was unfair to both Joe and myself in the run up to the election," he added.
Councillor Harte did not show up at the election count and explained his reasons for doing so.
"I wanted to be with my family after what they they've been through during a very tough campaign. I'd like to think people would understand my reasons for not going to the count centre- my only concern was for my family. That was my priority and I've no regrets. We've, won elections before and tasted defeat and my concern was solely for the family," he said.
"I was represented at the count by my Director of Elections, Jimmy Kavanagh," he added.
