This article is from page 29 of the 2011-02-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 29 JPG
WHILE the majority of the Clare electorate have 16 candidates to consider during this General Election, 4,200 people from the east of the county will be looking to the 13 candidates in the new constituency of Limerick City.
Almost five per cent of the 88,474 Clare residents registered to vote will have their say in the democratic process outside the county choosing between two Fine Gael candidates, two Fianna Fáil, two Labour, three Independents, a Green Party candidate, a candidate from Sinn Féin and a member of the Christian Solidarity and the Socialist Party.
The candidate line up in this constituency differs greatly from the Clare constituency, but commentators maintain the election will be fought between seven main contenders.
For the first time ever Michael Noonan (FG) is being favoured by some bookies to top the poll ahead of Fianna Fáil’s Willie O’Dea who is expected to lose up to 4, 500 votes due to the constituency re-draw.
With both men expected to make it past the finishing post early, it is their running mates Kieran O’Donnell (FG) and Peter Power (FF) that will be under pressure to return to the Dáil.
As Fine Gael traditionally manages the vote better than Fianna Fáil in this area, most pundits expect two Fine Gael seats when the last vote is counted in this four-seat constituency. Sitting TD and candidate Jan O’Sullivan is one of the candidates closely associated with Clare, draw- ing a lot of support from Clare county councillor Pascal Fitzgerald (Lab).
However, many fear that the Labour Party, who at one time had ambitions of two seats in the constituency, could fall between two political stools as the vote is split between the poll topper in the local election and former mayor Joe Leddin and Deputy O’Sullivan.
The voters in east Clare will also have an option not available to the rest of the county, as there will be a Sinn Fein candidate on the Limerick City ballot paper.
Cllr Maurice Quinlivan has a growing support in the city.
With expected transfers from the left from such candidates as former Fine Gael mayor and now Independent candidate Kevin Anthony Kiely and Socialist Party candidate Cian Prendiville he is expected to put in a challenge for the fourth and final seat.
The remaining candidates include Conor O’Donoghue, Christian Solidarity; Sheila Cahill, Green Party; Matt Larkin, Non Party and Denis Riordan, Non Party.