Category: News

GIRL power is back in Clare County Council. The historically male dominated local authority has trebled its number of female councillors, from one to three, in this election.

Leading the charge was independent candidate Ann Norton, who was first woman elected to Clare County Council over the weekend.

“It’s good to have a female voice in the council.

“After Patricia [Patricia McCarthy (Ind)] announced that she was retir- ing, a lot of people were worried that there mightn’t be a lot of women on Clare County Council.

“Different people give different reasons why there aren’t more women running for election, but at the end of the day I don’t see it being any different whether you are male or female,” she said.

“I’m a mother of three children. I have plenty of energy and will give time and energy to Clare County Council, the same as I put into the Clare Crusaders Clinic and into my family.”

Norton, who was elected on the 18th count of a marathon Ennis count at the West County Hotel credits her transfer friendliness as one of the reasons why she was elected.

“I’m absolutely delighted, thrilled. I wasn’t expecting this at all. I knew it was going to be tough; 27 candidates was a lot in the Ennis area.

“I think, from yesterday, when the count came in, my number were quite high.

“The question was whether I’d get the transfers.

“It’s all very new to me but it worked. Being transfer friendly worked,” she said.

NEWLY elected councillor Mary Howard (FG) has promised that the dynamics of Clare County Council will “change completely” following an influx of new female candidates to the local authority.

Speaking after her election to Clare County Council on Sunday afternoon, Howard praised all the Clare women who put themselves forward for this local election.

“It’s great to see that we have great quality women candidates in Clare. They are hard working, they are clever and they have the passion and drive.

“The dynamic is going to change completely now [because of the women candidates],” she said.

The Ennis-based councillor, who was one of three Fine Gael councillors returned in the Ennis area, has credited an “old fashioned” approach to politics for her success at this election.

“It’s been a long few months, it’s been a hard battle and a big big area for us to cover, for all of us. I canvassed the old fashioned way, one foot in front of the other.

“We started in the bitter cold last winter and we finished up this week. Thank God it worked out the way I wanted it. I love my job and I have a great passion for where I live and I love what I do,” she said.

“When I got elected five years ago [to Ennis Town Council], there was such a transition in my life, a lot going on. So I decided that I would do it [politics] full time, to the best of my abilities.

“I decided that it would be a career choice for me. I have loved every minute of it.”

Mary BUGLER
, Ogonolloe, Clare. Funeral Mass in St Molua’s Church, Ogonnelloe, today (Tuesday) at 12 noon followed by burial in Ogonnelloe cemetry. Donations if desired to Raheen Community Hospital. May she rest in peace.

Seán CULLINAN
, Cornmarket Street, Ennis/North Circular Road, former HSE Dublin and Oxmanstown, North Circular Road, Dublin 7 and late of Cornmarket Street, Ennis. Funeral Mass in Ennis Cathedral today (Tuesday) at 11 am. Burial afterwards in Drumcliffe Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Michael CLOHESSY
,Tullabrack, Kilrush. Peacefully at University Hospital Limerick. Laid to rest in Breassa Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Peggy CUGGERAN (née McMAHON)
, Stewart Street, Kilrush. Funeral arriving at St. Senan’s Church, Kilrush, this morning (Tuesday) for 11amMass, burial afterwards in All Saints Cemetery, Shanakyle. May she rest in peace.

Tom GUINEY
, Doolough, Connolly. Laid to rest in Coore. May he rest in peace.

Bridget HEHIR
, Boloughra, Cranny. Peacefully. Laid to rest in Cranny. May she rest in peace.

Sr Maria Goretti MCGRATH
, Convent of Mercy, Nenagh/Spanish Point, formerly of Garrykennedy, Portroe, at McAuley House, Limerick. Laid to rest in St Mary’s Convent Cemetery, Nenagh. May she rest in peace.

Michael Joseph QUINN
, Leopardstown/Inch, Laid to rest in Shanganagh Cemetery, Foxrock. May he rest in peace.

Johanna FITZGERALD (née Holohan)
, Toovahera, Lisdoonvarna. Laid to rest in Kilmoon cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Gerry LINNANE
, Stack’sVillas,Tralee, formerly of Newquay. Laid to rest in NewRath Cemetery, Tralee. May he rest in peace.

Nancy O’GRADY (née Duggan)
, Cahercanivan, Kilmihil. Peacefully. Laid to rest in Reilig Nua, Kilmihil. May she rest in peace.

Mary CASEY
, Deerpark, Doora, Ennis and formerly of Kings Road, Kildysart. Laid to rest in Kildysart Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Sr Mary CLANCY
, Daughters of the Cross, Beech Park Convent, Dublin/Ennis. Laid to rest in Deans Grange Cemetery. Donations, if desired, to Blackrock Hospice. May she rest in peace.

Francis Glen FOY
, Killeen, Corofin. Peacefully. Laid to rest in Drumcliffe Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Tom KEANE
, Birmingham, England and formerly of Clonfadda, Killaloe. Laid to rest in Bridgetown Church Grounds. Donations, if desired, to Milford Hospice. May he rest in peace.

Mary KEARINS
, Sutton/Sixmilebridge. Suddenly at Marymount Care Centre,Westmanstown. Laid to rest in St Fintan’s Cemetery, Sutton. May she rest in peace.

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.

WHEN Clare Colleran Molloy FF and Mary Howard FG were elected to Clare County Council on the 20th and final Ennis count it brought to three the number of women that would serve on the next local authority.

The female complement on the new 28-seat council is still only 10 per cent of the overall council membership, but it is also a 200 per cent increase in female representation at county level.

It was feared that when Cllr Patrica McCarthy (Ind), the only woman on the current council, announced her retirement there would be a shortage of female candidate willing to come forward.

While there will be no female representation on the Killaloe, Shannon and West Clare Municipal Areas, Ennis will now have three.

Clare Colleran Molloy was the last of the three – which includes Ann Norton (Ind) – to be elected and the dark horse among the three.

Her election she admitted was a surprise even to herself.

“I am so thrilled first and foremost as a first time candidate that I got that vote of confidence from so many people and obviously it is reflective of all the hard work I put in along with my husband Tony. We started knocking on doors on February 6 and we had such a good team of not only family and friends but also good cumann Fianna Fáil support,” she said.

“I did not expect to be standing here today,” she said minutes after she was declared elected.

The woman from Quin explained that after hours of nervous energy on Saturday, she had resigned herself to the fact that she would not get the seat by the Sunday. Hours later she was elected.

The new councillor elect has already got a “baptism of fire” in the world of politics following a flow of comments on a public online forum caused her distress ahead of the election.

The barrister said she was currently having that issue dealt with and is looking forward to her new political career.

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.

A FINE Gael councillor says he could not “defend the indefensible” when asked about Government decisions regarding the set up of Irish Water.

Lahinch based councillor, Bill Slattery (FG), who polled an impressive 1,792 first preference votes says he heard a lot of anger on doorsteps, especially when the money paid in Clare through the property tax “left the county” to fund Irish Water.

“It is going to be a challenging five year, it’s been a challenging canvass. A lot of people were very disillusioned with the austerity measures that came in. It was difficult for us, as Government councillors, to try and explain how this happened,” he said.

“Sometimes you could not defend the indefensible, like the property tax not being sent down to the county. People didn’t mind paying it, but when it was taken out of the county to set up Irish Water, people were very annoyed. People were very annoyed, it was very difficult for us councillors to explain that on the doors.

“I don’t mind water charges, because water has to be paid for, but the secretaries and chairpersons of Group Water Schemes don’t know how the billing is going to go. They don’t know is it going to be a metre on a bulk head and they will have to go after [members] for the money. They [Irish Water] haven’t really thought it out right and people were very dissillousioned about that as well.”

Cllr Slattery paid tribute to Senator Martin Conway for helping him in his campaign.

“I’m delighted with the vote. I really didn’t think I’d get that vote when I arrived here yesterday morning. I thought I’d get 1,400 maybe, but to get more then 1,700 – I was over the moon. Since I was co-opted for Martin [Senator Martin Conway (FG)] in June 2011, I knew that Martin would be a hard act to follow. I hit the ground running, got stuck into the local issues and with the help of Martin I was able to do a lot of things myself. I haven’t been idle in the last three years,” he said.

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.”

MICHAEL Hillery paid tribute to the support of family and friends after retaining his seat on Clare County Council.

The Fianna Fáil man was elected on the 11th county after securing a total vote of 1883.

“I’m absolutely delighted. It was a very hard campaign and at the end of the day it has worked out for me and I’m delighted that I have been elected,” said Hillery in the West County Hotel on Sunday night.

“It was very, very hotly contested at the doorsteps and I am delighted to have got through”, revealed a re- lieved Hillery.

The man from Spanish Point was quick to pay tribute to the support he received from his family though a long campaign.

“The main thing that got me over the line was the support I got from my family and also the support I got from all the canvassers, all the people that gave up their time freely to come out canvassing with me. I think that’s what really got me over the line; they gave me encouragement during the campaign to keep going when things weren’t going so well. People kept encouraging me to keep going, kept saying I’d make it and at the end of the day it worked out and I’m delighted with that”.

“I was very nervous all day because I didn’t know what way the situation was,” said Hillery of the see-saw battle for seats in West Clare.

He continued, “I know I started of with a quota of just over 1400 but I knew I had a battle on my hands. The people that were going to be eliminated early on were from the southern part of the constituency and I knew I would get very little transfers from those candidates. As it went along that’s what happened. I only went up after four or five eliminations. But when Gerard Kennedy was eliminated, it was from then on I started to move up and it looked like I was going to be elected and that’s the way it worked out”.

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.

RICHARD Nagle (FF) has called on the eight councillors elected to the new West Clare Area to work together to insure that enough money can be obtained to keep services in the massive constituency on track. The new area comprises almost half of County Clare, making it one of the largest and most rural electoral areas in Ireland.

“There are a lot of challenges. The West Clare area is vast and predominantly rural. We need to ensure that that the area gets proper funding to enable services to be maintained. There are eight councillors, it is important that those councillors work together for the best interests of the area,” he said.

“We have a big challenge to ensure that we get adequate funding from central government. We got the third lowest Local Government Fund in the country this year. With the introduction of the property charge people rightly expect a level of service, regardless of whether they are urban or rural dwellers. The Ennistymon councillor also paid tribute to everyone who helped in his campaign. “It was extremely challenging. The area covers 47 per cent of the county and it was impossible for any candidate to cover all of the areas. It was extremely demanding. But people were very courteous on the doors for the most part. Some people had very serious issues that they raised, which is what you want to hear on a canvass so you can be aware of them and deal with them. There is a lot of work to be done,” he said. “I’m absolutely thrilled and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who voted for me, to thank all of the people who helped me to get elected and a special word of thanks to my family, for the help and support that they gave me throughout the campaign.”