Northern Ireland

All Ireland winning captain seeks election nomination

Donegal All Ireland winning captain, Anthony Molloy is to seek a Fianna Fáil nomination for this year's local government elections in the Republic.
Donegal All Ireland winning captain, Anthony Molloy is to seek a Fianna Fáil nomination for this year's local government elections in the Republic. Donegal All Ireland winning captain, Anthony Molloy is to seek a Fianna Fáil nomination for this year's local government elections in the Republic.

Donegal’s 1992 All Ireland winning captain, Anthony Molloy has confirmed plans to stand for Fianna Fáil in this year’s local government elections in the Republic.

One of the most popular figures in County Donegal GAA, Mr Molloy won icon status in the county when he raised the Sam Maguire Cup with a shout of “Sam’s for the Hill” in 1992, Donegal’s first All Ireland senior title.

If successful in winning a seat to Donegal county council, Mr Molloy (56) will follow a long line of GAA stars who made the move into politics in the Republic.

The most successful former GAA star to go into politics was the late Jack Lynch who served as Fianna Fáil Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973. A native of Cork, Mr Lynch won six All Ireland medals as a footballer (1) and hurler (50) with his native county.

His time in politics overlapped with that of another GAA great, John Donnellan who served as Fine Gael TD for Galway East from 1964 to 1989, also winning three All Ireland football titles with Galway.

While not as common north of the border, a number of former GAA players have found electoral success. All Ireland winning Armagh player, Justin McNulty is a current SDLP assembly member for Newry and Armagh.

Mr Molloy said he had decided to contest Fianna Fáil’s selection convention after giving the matter a lot of thought. The Ardara man hopes to win a nomination to contest the election in his native Glenties’ electoral area.

He told The Donegal Democrat newspaper: “I have been overwhelmed with the huge number of people who have asked me to let my name go forward to the Fianna Fáil convention.”