Category: News

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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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.