Tag Archives: Fine Gael

Results of the 12th and final count results are in, Breen and Carey both elected without reaching the quota. Breen (FG) +1,796  10,088 Carey (FG) +1,984  9,915 McDonagh (FF) +833 7,762 McDonagh was excluded as the lowest remaining candidate.   Clare has returned two FG candidates (Breen and Carey), one FF (Timmy Dooley) and one independent (Michael Harty). The FG success comes about due to vote management as they actually took approximately 26% of the vote compared to FF’s 31%.

The recent Clare Champion 2016 General Election opinion poll has generally been borne out on polling day. Apart from some changes in the parties’ actual vote, the ‘Champion poll, which was taken two weeks previously, identified some of the key trends, which transpired on February 26. It revealed the emergence of Dr Michael Harty as a very strong candidate, who looks set to take the second seat in the Banner County. In addition to predicting a seat for outgoing Fianna Fáil Deputy Timmy Dooley and Pat Breen, Fine Gael, it indicated that Sinn Féin candidate, Noeleen Moran would be in contention for the last seat with Labour’s Michael McNamara and Fine Gael Deputy, Joe Carey. Some interesting findings have emerged when comparing the poll with the tally results. According to the tally,  Fianna Fáil is on 31.11% Fine Gael 25.98% Labour 7.8% Sinn Féin 7.18% Independents 23% Fís Nua 1.98% Green 2.95%. The poll  found Fianna Fáil was on 27.91, …

OUTGOING Clare Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley arrived at the county centre in Ennistymon shortly before 5pm on Saturday. Deputy Dooley is expected to top the poll and hold onto his seat according to the tallies. As regards forming a coalition government, Deputy Dooley is adamant that Fianna Fáil will keep their pre-election promises and not enter into a partnership with Fine Gael. “That has been thrown around for the last few weeks. There has been an awful lot of targeting of the two parties to resolve the government issue. There are going to be 158 people elected between here and Monday or Tuesday. There is a responsibility on everyone that gets elected to play a role in deciding who administers the state after this. In my view it should be down to policy platforms. We ran a campaign offering a change to the Irish people with a platform around investment in services and a platform that looked at spreading …

Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway has criticised what he has described as a “disastrous” Fine Gael election campaign nationally, however, he said he is hopeful of a positive Clare result. He said he felt sympathy for Clare County Councillor Mary Howard who he said was “put on the back foot” by Fine Gael by putting her forward as a General Election candidate too late. Senator Conway said he believes he could have performed well and attracted a significant vote if he had been chosen and the North Clare and West Clare areas were left “wide open” for Dr Michael Harty and other candidates by deciding not to select him. He said he believes Fine Gael made a “big mistake” by not selecting him but he is relatively confident Fine Gael can claim two seats. “Nationally at the moment it has been a disastrous election for Fine Gael. Our message clearly hasn’t resonated with the people. You could be forgiven for …

ON the brink of General Election 2016 polling day, a former Clare TD has revealed how Fianna Fáil paid a heavy price for a wrong call on fixing a date for the 2011 election. Fianna Fáil election strategists cost the party up to 30 additional seats over the timing of the 2011 General Election, former Defence Minister Tony Killeen has claimed. In an interview during a Clare Champion-hosted General Election 2016 discussion, Mr Killeen laid bare for the first time the main factors that led to the dramatic meltdown for Fianna Fáil, which went from 78 to just 20 Dáil seats in the last election. Mr Killeen, who had been principal at Kilnaboy National School prior to entering politics, also revealed he would be dead if he had contested a snap election in December 2010, instead of February 25, 2011, as he was battling cancer at the time. Mr Killeen announced his retirement from politics on health grounds ahead of …

NEW data released by Facebook has revealed that Fine Gael are the most discussed political party on Facebook in Clare since November. Across the county, Labour were the second most discussed party while Fianna Fáil are in third spot. Sinn Féin come fourth in the rankings for conversations in Clare, followed by the Green Party, then Renua, the Social Democrats, the Anti Austerity Alliance and the People Before Profit Alliance. Facebook’s data, published with less than two weeks to polling day, has also revealed that infrastructure, health and the economy were the most discussed election-related issues in Clare. After that came social welfare, crime and corruption, flooding, education, housing and abortion. In terms of personality politics, Taoiseach Enda Kenny was the most discussed political leader in Clare, with Tánaiste Joan Burton coming second. Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin was third in the county ahead of Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin. Eamon Ryan of the Green Party was the fifth most discussed …

  Clare County Councillor, Mary Howard has been officially declared as the third Fine Gael (FG) candidate to contest the forthcoming General Election in the county. Last week, speculation was rife that Councillor Howard would be added by the Fine Gael National Executive Council to the party ticket in Clare at the weekend and has proved to be correct. The former Ennis Town Councillor stated it is a “huge honour” to be asked and also to be considered capable of being part of the local FG team. Despite her late entry into the race, she is looking forward to working with her running mates outgoing FG deputies Pat Breen and Joe Carey to maximise the party’s vote in Clare. “I love my job and my county and I would really love to take it to the next level. I have a proven track record of a strong work ethic and I am a team player thus I would love for …

CLARE Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway said he has no immediate plans to run as an independent candidate if he is not selected as one of the party’s candidates at their Dáil selection convention this Friday night. Speculation has been rife that the Ennistymon-based Senator might run as an independent if he is not chosen on the ticket. However, Senator Conway is confident that he will get a chance to run for Fine Gael at the next election and feels he should be added as a third candidate, if he is unsuccessful at convention. Asked if he would run as an independent candidate, he said, “No one can predict the future. Running as an independent is a situation I wouldn’t countenance. I have no immediate plans to run as an independent. “I believe my performance over the last few years, my proven vote-getting record and my geographical position makes a strong case for why I should be part of the …