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TONY Mulqueen was taking defeat in his stride on Saturday night after losing his seat on Clare County Council.

Mulqueen was eliminated on the 9th count and despite being surprised by his early ejection, Mulqueen wasn’t feeling too despondent.

“I didn’t see it coming. I had a good canvass. I had a good team. Everything seemed to be on course. That’s politics. In 2004 I was short by 41 votes. I was elected in 2009 and I was rejected this year. That’s politics. That’s life,” recalled the local businessman.

Standing in a quiet corner of the West County Hotel, away from the count centre, Mulqueen said he would analyse the vote to see where it all went wrong

“I think this election was so tight and with such a large number of people that the number two votes I might have got from other candidates – that hadn’t gone over the quota – those votes weren’t coming back to me,” offered Mulqueen, who was one of six Fine Gael candidates in the Ennis area.

“That’s life. There is no one dead. I’m alive. I welcomed into the world this year my second grandchild and I’m happy with that. I’m fine,” he added.

Mulqueen also did not shut the door completely on contesting again in 2019.

He said, “I’ve a huge interest in politics. I only got involved in politics late in life after my family had grown up and I could give it the time. For five years, I worked at it. I worked hard at it. I was elected during a recession in 2009…We’re maybe com- ing out of recession now, who knows. Who knows what will happen in five years time.”

Commenting on his steady showing in the Ennis electoral area, Labour candidate Dermot Hayes accepted it was always going to be difficult for the party to win a seat in Clare.

The local community activist was eliminated on the 16th count after taking in 671 votes. “As they say on the pitch, the wind was well against us”, remarked Hayes on Saturday. “At the same time we should have been proud of ourselves that we went out there and fought away. We’ll still be active in the community. I will always remain active in the community.

“We have to sit down and regroup and see what we are doing. Populism is grand but the reality is that hard choices had to be made, whether we liked it or not”, he added.

ENNIS man Michael Guilfoyle said he is bowing out of local politics after losing his seat in the Ennis electoral area on Sunday.

Guilfoyle was eliminated from the running after the 15th count in the West County on Sunday morning.

“That’s the end of the politics and you’re the first to be told that. Actually, you’re the second, my wife was the first,” Guilfoyle told The Clare People . “I was first elected in 1985. I enjoyed every bit of it. I like to think I achieved something for the town of Ennis. I’d like to think I’ve given something to it. I’d like to thank my family for all their support.”

Guilfoyle admits he is disappointed with his final total of 630 votes. He had pinned his hopes on picking up votes from outgoing councillor Tommy Brennan who retired from local politics.

“Where Tommy Brennan’s vote went, I don’t know. Frankie (Neylon) and myself were hoping for some piece of it. We didn’t get it. Personally, I think they all stayed at home when they knew Tommy wasn’t going!” he says.

Having regained his seat five years ago, Guilfoyle now finds himself a spectator to local politics.

Speaking minutes before his elimination was confirmed, Guilfoyle voiced his concerns over the new structure of local government.

“If you have councillors in Kilmaley, Kilnamona and Quin, they will concentrate on their own area and Ennis will be the fall guy. That would be a concern for me,” he declares.

THERE will be seven new members in the Clare County Council chamber when they meet for the first time on June 6, although one among them, Tony O’Brien, will have served there before.

The Fianna Fáil candidate lost his seat in Killaloe in 2009, but claimed it back on the seventh count with a surplus of 182.

Also coming in on that seventh count was newbie Alan O’Callaghan for Fianna Fáil, who came in ahead of running mate and son of a former county councillor, Liam Wiley, who failed to be elected.

Held high in Treacys West County Hotel at 1.30am on Sunday morning, the Kilmurry man was delighted with his success.

He attributed his win to a strong campaign and a lot of support from family and friends.

A relaxed character, he is undaunted by the size of the Killaloe Electoral Area or his journey into the unknown that is local politics.

“I would be a very positive person and like that; I wouldn’t let anything phase me. I love taking on problems and issues. I love keeping people on the straight and narrow, keeping people informed of what ever they need to do,” said the self employed East Clare man.

So what is he looking forward to now that he has been elected to Clare County Council?

“First of all I am looking forward to meeting my wife, I haven’t seen her in the last four months. Then we’ll get tomorrow out of the way, sit down on Monday and wire into it then,” he said minutes after being elected.

The rest of the new faces include three former town councillors – Mary Howard FG in Ennis, Mike McKee SF in Shannon and Ian Lynch Ind in West Clare.

Also in the line up of new candidates are Independent candidate Ann Norton and Fianna Fáil candidate Clare Colleran Molloy FF.

FIANNA FÁIL has returned to party political dominance in Clare County Council and with the support of the three Independent councillors of Fianna Fáil origin, the party could take control of the chamber.

Councillors Michael Begley (Killaloe), Cllr James Breen (Ennis) and Cllr PJ Ryan (Shannon) are well positioned to be king-makers, or in this case mayor-makers, in the new 28 seat council.

Although the party increased its overall first preference vote by just .2 per cent, its representation on Clare County Council has increased from 34.4 per cent to 42.8 per cent. In the 2009 local election Fianna Fáil won 11 seats in a 32 member council. In 2014 the number increased to 12 in a 28 seat council.

Director of Elections for the party in Clare Gerry Reidy believes with a bit more vote management the party may have even secured two more seats and brought the number to one seat short of an overall majority.

“We had great potential to get two more seats. If we had managed the vote that Cathal [Crowe] got better, and he got an amount of that from the Cratloe area, we could have got in Pat O’Gorman because he was only beaten by a short margin of votes,” he said.

“Cathal is a brilliant campaigner, and it is only afterwards when you see the benefit of his work you think we might have had a different conversation about some of these places.”

The Fianna Fáil man also questions how the party did not win a seat in Kilkee and were beaten to that seat by a Government councillor.

“There is a lot of controversy in Kilkee over the damage the storms have done and Pat Keane would have highlighted constantly, but you have the situation where the councillor that was in the Government Party got in, and the councillor in opposition did not.”

While congratulating the 12 Fianna Fáil councillors, Mr Reidy said he was also aware of those that were not elected across all parties and none, and was aware of how difficult that was on them and their families.

The party lost just two casualties in the election – Cllr Brian Meaney who was elected a Green Party councillor in 2009 but transferred to Fianna Fáíl in April 2013.

Cllr Pat Keane also lost his seat in the new West Clare Electoral Area.

THE ACTIONS of unknown thieves who stole a set of toddler swings from the Crusheen playground have been described as “despicable” by the local community.

The Crusheen Playground Committee believe that the swings, which were taken at some time between Tuesday evening, May 20, and Thursday evening, May 24, were deliberately targeted by criminals – rather than as a random act of criminality.

Sean Nihill of the playground committee says people in the area are devastated, not by the value of the items stolen, but that anyone would steal from children in a premeditated and planned way.

“They screwed out both the infant swings.

“There was no damage done to the swings and they would have needed specialist equipment to do it.

“It is our opinion that it was a premeditated thing, they would have gone there to do it. It’s despicable,” he told The Clare People. “Two members of the playground committee were there when I arrived on the scene and we reported it to the gardaí and they say they will look into it.

“It’s not the value of the crime and what was stolen, it’s the impact of it. What kind of person would steal from children like this?

“What happens now when parents come to the playground with their toddlers? How do they explain to their children that some bad man stole their swing?

“How do you do that? It’s a big loss to the community, especially to children arriving to find swings missing,” he added.

The playground, which was officially opened in November of 2012 after years of local campaigning and fundraising, attracts larger crowds of children from Crusheen as well as from the wider area – with families travelling to the facility from east Clare and south Galway.

The playground is surrounded on each side with a small, four foot high, wall and there is currently no way of locking and completely securing the playground at night.

The local playground committee is appealing to whoever took the swings to return them as soon as possible.

Gardaí in Ennis are also investigating the incident.

GARDAÍ in Clare are urging car owners to exercise greater vigilance when leaving their cars unattended.

The advice comes following a spate of breaks-ins to vehicles in East Clare and Ennis earlier this month.

A Toshiba laptop was stolen from a car that was parked in the Erasmus car park on College Road in Ennis on Saturday May 17. The break in occurred between 8.20pm and 2.30pm.

A red Mazda 323 hatchback (98-C2395) was stolen from the back of a house in Linnane’s Terrace in the Kilrush road area of Ennis between 5pm on May 20 and 8pm on May 22. Gardaí have issued the warning ahead of Crime Prevention Day on Thursday, May 29.

“Our primary aim is to raise awareness within our communities on methods that can easily be adopted to prevent crime, reduce the fear of crime and to promote community safety” explained Crime Prevention Officer, Joe Downey.

He continued, “Statistically speaking € 220 is the average value of property stolen from vehicles in the past twelve months, apart from the added hassle of getting a broken window replaced and a possible insurance claim. Criminals make a decision to steal from a vehicle based on a judgment of: what goods they are likely to get; how quickly can they carry out their task; the likelihood of being caught”.

Sgt Downey said vehicle owners need to be extra vigilant when leaving their vehicles unattended even outside their home.

The following advice is recommended; do not leave property visible from the outside; when not in your car always lock it, even outside your home or in the driveway; park in a well lit area during darkness and at other times in busy areas where it can be seen or in a CCTV monitored area; report any suspicious activity immediately to the gardaí.

JUST minutes after Ian Lynch was deemed elected to Clare County Council for the first time, Fine Gael co-ordinator Jim Madden shook the Independent councillor’s hand.

The former Fine Gael man had been unsuccessful at the party’s convention last November and decided to go it alone in an attempt to secure a seat for the town of Kilrush.

Shortly after he realised that ambition, the outgoing Kilrush town councillor and new county councillor promised “to shake up” the new county council.

Asked if his election was Fine Gael’s loss, Cllr Lynch said, “I don’t know whose loss it is; it is a gain for West Clare. I put myself forward. I was always going to run the race. People voted for me and my job is to serve the people. Parties shouldn’t come into this level of politics. Parties are for a bigger arena. I put myself forward as an Independent candidate and I got elected to the seat as an Independent and I have a lot of work to do now,” he said.

His former colleague on Kilrush Town Council Marian McMahon Jones (FG), who was eliminated on the fourth count, also wished the new councillor well, saying she was happy that the town of Kilrush had a candidate.

Cllr Lynch believes his work on the town council helped his work, but realised it was always going to be an uphill battle for a newcomer to be elected in the West Clare area, where nine sitting councillors were going for eight seats.

“The last few weeks of the canvass were crazy. I am not sure who was pregnant there for a while, me or Rene,” he said referring to his partner, whom he has promised to take on a long weekend away to make up for his absence over the last number of months.

IT didn’t turn out the way he wanted but first time candidate Felix Omorodion has vowed to seek election again.

The Nigerian Eucharistic Minister exited the race for a seat in the Ennis Electoral Area after the fifth count.

But Omorodion, who stood as an independent candidate, was pleased with his performance.

“I enjoyed the experience. This is my first time running. I’m very grateful to God I was able to make the fifth count,” said Felix in the count centre at Treacys West County on Saturday afternoon.

“I wanted to serve my community. To give hope for the hopeless, a voice for the voiceless. I wanted my community to have a voice and hope. But unfortunately it didn’t work out the way I wanted,” he added.

He enjoyed the experience so much that Omorodion already has one eye on the 2019 election.

“Oh yes, I would like to go again in the next five years. I have learned a lot. I will keep on learning from colleagues and honourable councillors.

“My friends and family all sup- ported me. They were very happy to seem me going through it. It is a very difficult time and period but still, by the grace of God, God has taken me so far,” he said.

HE MAY have been close to the relegation battle in West Clare, but Bill Chambers (FF) was never likely to be left without a seat when the music stopped. After a long day at the count centre at the West County Hotel, and an even longer six months of campaigning, the Cooraclare man said he was never really doubtful of losing his seat, but he was a little nervous.

“It was a great day, I’m delighted. I would like to commiserate with my two colleaugues Oliver Garry (FG) and Pat Keane (FF),” he said.

“We have been in the council together now for a lot of years, they are two gentlemen and I’m really sorry that they have to leave us. As for myself, I wasn’t really that doubtful about I [being re-elected], but I was a bit nervous.”

Chambers has also called for all of the newly elected or re-elected councillors in the West Clare area to work together to serve the need of the massive constituency.

“It’s a completely new council now. Our electoral area has nearly trebled in size from what it was and the town council is gone in Kilrush. We’ll have to focus on looking after Kilrush and the rest of the West Clare areas. But in particular Kilrush, with the council gone, and Kilkee as well has also lost a town council,” he said.

“I will be appealing to the eight councillors to work together. The eight councillors will have to perform and get West Clare on the map, promote industry and tourism.”

WHAT are three votes between neighbours? Well, a lot when there is a Clare County Council seat at stake.

That was the reality that faced Fine Gael’s Ger O’Halloran when his neighbour, friend and political foe Clare Colleran Molloy from Fianna Fáil came from behind in the very last count to take the last seat in the Ennis Electoral Area.

On the 19th count there were five candidates remaining to take the last four seats.

O’Halloran was ahead of Colleran Molloy by 11 votes and positioned to take the seat.

However, Ann Norton, who was elected in the 18th count, still had a surplus to divide among the candidates and this brought in Colleran Molloy ahead of O’Halloran.

Norton’s transfer ensured the woman from Quin was ahead of her neighbour by three votes.

Following a mammoth count of the election area with the most candidates in the country, a recount was called.

Hours later both candidates were called to meet with returning officer Michael McNamara, as the crowd watched on.

He informed them that after the recount there was now five votes be- tween them and Ms Colleran Molloy was deemed elected.

There was devastation among O’Halloran’s supporters, and jubilation from those that lived just a few miles away.

A giant of a man, Ger O’Halloran, battled to keep his own emotions in check as he consoled family, friends and supporters.

“We were both from the Quin area and the association between the O’Hallorans and the Collerans goes back generations,” he told the media, describing Clare as “a very wonderful political foe”.

“But I want our families association to continue. You couldn’t make it up,” he said.

“My transfers as it all unfolded were very disappointing. At times I needed to open a little gap to feel more comfortable, but I could feel this dripping away from me. It never ran away from me. It drifted away from me. And ultimately it came down to the one last transfer of votes.

“You just couldn’t make this up as I said. How it has unfolded has added to the drama here in over the last two days,” he added, summing up the political spectacle.

While Mr O’Halloran said it was too soon to say for definite if he would contest another election, his wife Ciara and supporters were quick to say, he would be ready in five years time.