Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said he “fully sympathizes” with party colleague Senator Eugene Murphy but stopped short of committing to the Scramogue native being added to the ticket Roscommon-Galway.

Speaking to the Roscommon Herald today during a short visit to Roscommon Town, Mr Martin outlined his position when asked about Senator Murphy’s call for a Roscommon candidate to be added to feature alongside Dr Martin Daly from Ballygar.

“The convention happened and Martin won the convention,” he explained. “We don’t have a seat in this election and we want to win a seat. This is why the National Constituency Commission determines these issues and monitors them closely, but their strategy here is to win a seat.

“This is a small group, we know that from previous experience. We don’t want to do anything that could potentially jeopardize our ability to win this seat, but the precincts committee is following these matters under review,” he said.

Mr Martin described Senator Murphy as a very effective senator and a TD before that, and both had worked very well together, he said.

“I fully sympathize with his situation, but he (Eugene) indicated to me that he had a very strong and high regard for Martin. Eugene was careful to say that Martin is an excellent candidate and an exceptional person,” he said.

During the interview, the Fianna Fáil leader said Roscommon undoubtedly needed a strong voice from government and the party wanted to emerge as the strongest party nationally. “We need a headquarters in Roscommon to enable us to do that, but also for the people of Roscommon,” he said.

“I have known Martin for quite a long time, from when he was Minister of Health. He is a strong advocate for health services. We want to bring his skills as a doctor to Leinster House and to Dáil Éireann in terms of his skills as a parliamentarian.

Mr Martin said Dr Daly had ideas on how to improve services at Roscommon Hospital “in terms of a better, more modern outpatient facility, for example, and other services there- down “.

The Tánaiste pointed out that the Ballygar man had been a doctor for Roscommon GAA for 28 years, “which means he has touched families across the length and breadth of the constituency”.

He cited other issues such as housing and crime as areas of concern to the people he met on the ground.

The Tánaiste used a number of local businesses today during his stay in Roscommon Town and then Castlerea.