South Clare

It was touch and go for sitting Councillor Pat Burke (FG) all day as early tallies indicated he could have been in trouble, but all three of the last seats in the Killaloe Electoral Area were filled together just before 1am. Tony O’Brien (FF), Pat Burke (FG) and newcomer Alan O’Callaghan (FF) all came in with seats following the distribution of eliminated candidate Liam Wiley’s (FF) votes. Councillor Burke said he was much happier coming to the count centre on Saturday night after early tallies proved to have been out by approximately a hundred votes. He said he is delighted to be returning to the council chamber for a new five year term. The Whitegate man added that he was disappointed with the Fine Gael performance after Clare’s outgoing mayor Joe Arkins (FG) lost his seat. However he said he was happy for his party colleague Joe Cooney who has topped the poll once more.

Outgoing Clare County Councillor, Michael Begley became the third member of the local authority to secure re-election at around 11.10 pm with 1,799 votes. The Independent Councillor admitted the loss of 320 from nearby Parteen concentrated his mind and his supporters to get those votes back. Acknowledging the lack of competition from another Clonlara candidate was a big help in his re-election bid, he identified three pools of votes to secure some additional votes. These included votes left behind by outgoing Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald and Councillor Cathal Crowe, who moved from Killaloe to the Shannon Municipal District and the decision of former Fine Gael Councillor, John McInerney not to re-enter the race. While all these votes were party votes, he managed to get enough of them to eventually secure his re-election. His re-election bid was also helped by the fact he was the only independent candidate out of the starting line-up of ten. He pointed out there was no comparable …

FÍS Nua candidate Niamh O’Brien has told The Clare Champion that she felt obliged to seek a partial recount after her elimination from the Killaloe Electoral Area on the fourth count. The first-time candidate was just six votes behind Liam Wiley (FF) when she was eliminated. “Because there’s only six votes in it, why not? I would bow out gracefully but if it’s worth fighting for and I’ll stay here for another while and see how it goes,” the O’Callaghan’s Mills native said before her elimination was confirmed after the partial recount. “It’s not too many times that I say this but I’m really proud of myself. I’m so honoured that so many people thought so much of me to put me this far. I have to thank them and I have to apologise because I was so thin on the ground and I didn’t get to everyone,” she added before paying tribute to her family. “My mother Bernie was …

Results from count three of the Killaloe Electoral Area, which distributed Pat Hayes’ surplus votes, has led to the elimination of Donal Higgins (Lab). Following the distribution of Pat Hayes’s surplus votes, Donal Higgins yielded 360 votes, and was deemed to be eliminated after no other candidate reached the quota. The elimination means that the Killaloe Electoral Area loses its Labour local representative. Climbing closer to the 1,585 votes required to be elected are: Michael Begley (NP) on 1,475 votes, Tony O’Brien (FF) on 1,408, Pat Burke (FG) on 1,148 votes and Alan O’Callaghan (FF) on 936. Those hoping to stay in the game are Liam Wiley (FF) on 886, Joe Arkins (FG) on 870 votes,  and Niamh O’Brien (FN) on 840.

Pat Hayes (FF) has been elected to Clare County Council netting 277 transfers from Joe Cooney’s (FG) surplus votes. The Maghera native was surrounded by his wife, children and extended family when the results were delivered by returning officer Michael McNamara. Delighted with the news that he will retain his council seat having netted a total of 1,767 votes, he said he looks forward to celebrating. He added that it was “disgraceful” that electoral area changes introduced for this election meant communities were effectively divided down the middle. He said during his new term he will be fighting to see the reversal of these boundary changes. Pat is now looking forward to representing the newly extended Killaloe Electoral Area, which encompasses a significant geographical area of North West Clare, but said he was hugely disappointed that those communities, such as Carron, were now split. Pat said he is now rooting for his Fianna Fáil colleagues Tony O’Brien, Alan O’Callaghan and …

Results are in for the Killaloe Electoral Area first count. Joe Cooney (FG) has been comfortably elected having netted nearly 26% of the valid poll with a vote of 2,843. The quota was set at 1,585 votes, and Pat Hayes (FF) is just shy of the quota on count one with 1,490. Behind him is Michael Begley (NP) on 1,390. Tony O’Brien (FF) looks set to secure a seat with 1,294 votes. With Councillor Cooney’s surplus of 1,258 now being counted he expects his party colleagues Pat Burke (FG) and Joe Arkins (FG) to see the most benefit from it. Pat Burke currently stands at 825, and Joe Arkins at 755. The other results in show Alan O’Callaghan (FF) on 791 votes; Liam Wiley (FF) on 651; Niamh O’Brien (FN) on 731; and Donal Higgins (Lab) on 323. The valid poll in the electoral area stood at 11,181 polled, 11,093 votes were deemed valid.

In the Killaloe area, Joe Cooney of Fine Gael , as expected, will be comfortably elected, as will Independent Michael Begley.  Next home will be Tony O Brien, Fianna Fail and Pat Hayes of Fianna Fail. At this stage, it appears that outgoung Mayor of Clare Joe Arkins of Fine Gael will have a fight on his hands to retain his seat. Liam Wiley, Fianna Fail and Pat Burke of Fine Gael are among those who will be in contention for the remaining seats. [doptg id=”14″]

UP to  a quarter of Councillor Cathal Crowe’s election posters have been removed or stolen in his constituency since April 23. Councillor Crowe  intends to report the matter to gardaí, as he believes it is not just natural wastage, but rather a targeted operation to cut down and remove his election posters. “Close on 45 or 50 have come down. I’ve about 200 up. They are not just mine that are coming down but, certainly, a lot of mine have come down.  “The same evening some of mine came down, some of Councillor John Crowe’s were also taken down. The posters are €7 a piece, so I’m going to the gardaí to report them stolen.” He explained his posters were taken down at the last election but put back up afterwards, so he would be subject to a litter fine of €150 per poster. I’m going to report them stolen for two reasons, so the gardaí might keep an eye out for …