This article is from page 65 of the 2007-05-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 65 JPG
BY 6pm, Clare’s largest polling sta- tion was humming. The flow of vot- ers had been steady all day at Ennis CBS, but now business was really picking up.
The narrow hallways rumbled with the purposeful steps of voters. Out- side cars and SUV’s were plonked on the footpath. Inside the walls, others jostled for parking spaces.
Normally you’d associate this kind of traffic with the daily school com- mute taken by parents and children to and from New Road.
But today there’s a different reason for the hustle and bustle. It’s Election Day.
Time to chose the men or women that will serve Clare in the 30th Dail. And the people are eager to have Dales DMITRY
“Oh it’s always this way,” says Cen- tre Supervisor Anne Monahan. Pre- siding officer Lawrence O’ Loughlin concurs, “You’ll always find it like that.”
Between them, Anne and Lawrence have over 50 years experience at the polling stations. Steady hands on hec- tic days. 3,800 voters drawn mainly
from the Tulla Road and Roslevan areas of the town passed through the CBS last Thursday.
Seven individual stations were di- vided between two buildings. The booths propped neatly in classrooms in the main building. Three more ar- ranged in a circle in a separate hall.
The school also housed the busi- est polling booth in the county – box number two where 860 of the coun- ty’s 79,883 potential votes were cast.
Anne checked the first polling fig- ures at 2pm and already turnout was high, at 18 per cent. By 6pm that fig- ure had risen to 30 per cent.
A staff of 15 people sat through the long hours of voting, making sure everything ran smoothly. A good thing too.
A power cut struck parts of Ennis on Thursday. Electronic voting may- be quick, easy and less cumbersome, but what happens when the lights go oD nia
‘That would be an absolute disas- ter. No one would be able to vote,” says Anne.
While we await the winner of the pencil versus keypad debate, there will still be plenty of work for pre- siding officers at election time.
For Lawrence, that means rising in the early light of 6.30am. The day isn’t done until 10.30pm when the last of the all-important ballot boxes are under lock and key in the West County Hotel.
It’s a day for people and their pri- orities. After a 15-hour day, there’s only one place the Boston, Tubber native is thinking of.
“It’s a long day alright. I remember we had a long one a few years ago. It will take about a half an hour to clean up. I’ll be aiming to hit Rory Kenny’s by twenty past eleven’, says Lawrence.