This article is from page 12 of the 2014-05-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
ONE of the biggest shocks of the local elections in Clare occurred on Sunday night when Fine Gael’s Oliver Garry lost his seat on Clare County Council.
The Kildysert man lost out in the race for the final three seats in West Clare after being knocked out on the 11th count.
The disappointment was writ large on Garry’s face at the end of a long day and night in the West County Hotel.
But the experienced politician was taking defeat in his stride.
“I feel disappointed but I’ve gone though worse in life. Losing an election is not the worst thing in the world. We have to get up and get on with life again. Tomorrow I’ll be in a different scene. I’ll be involved in some other project in life. That’s what it’s all about. Losing an election isn’t the end of the world for me,” he said.
Flanked by family and supporters, including Fine Gael TD Pat Breen, Garry recalled the drama of a marathon count.
“I was feeling very
confident during the
day, especially after
last night’s disappoint
ment when my tally
was only 990 and we
found 240 more votes.
I was confident today
but obviously it went
down to who went out
first and where the
transfers were going
to go. They came to
Gabriel (Keating) and
I’d like to congratulate
Gabriel as well.”
He continued, “At least they have a seat in the west, in the Loop, which is important as well. We’re probably without a seat now in the south of the county which is probably a bit disappointing.”