Fianna Fáil loses out in election

Review
IT was an interesting year in local politics, with the obliteration of Fianna Fáil in the Shannon Town Council election a big talking point.

All over the country, the party lost seats in the local elections, and with neither Seán Hillery nor Geraldine Lambert running again, in the weeks leading up to the poll it was clear that the Soldiers of Destiny had a battle on their hands in Shannon.
The party’s problems were exacerbated by difficulties regarding candidate selection and, ultimately, its two candidates, Noel McNamara and Wojciech Wisniewski, were eliminated with McNamara falling just short with 305 votes, after transfers, to Michael Fleming’s 314.
In the ’80s, Fianna Fáil held five seats on the town council but the party is now left with a serious rebuilding job locally.
Both the Labour Party and Fianna Fáil fielded Eastern European candidates, with neither of them making a very big impact. However, the parties were accused by Independent Patricia McCarthy of using them to hoover up transfers.
“There was a bit of a cynical move in putting in non-nationals to attract a vote. In my opinion, that’s what it was. I don’t think it’s fair to use people. I think politics shouldn’t be about using people, it should be about having a commitment to an area, a town or a political party.”
However, her claims were hotly disputed by Greg Duff of the Labour party.
“I think that’s a bit of hypocrisy and I feel very angry about that. Like any other town in Ireland, we’re moving towards a multicultural society and the idea is that people integrate and don’t live in ghettoes.”
Following the election, Fine Gael was left with four seats, Labour with two, there were two independent councillors and one Sinn Féin.
In the Shannon Electoral Area in the county council poll, Fine Gael also performed well, with John Crowe topping the poll and Tony Mulcahy coming in second.
On the Fianna Fáil side, Pat McMahon held onto his seat but Eamon Fennessy and Cratloe’s Pat O’Gorman fell short.
PJ Ryan had stood for the party twice previously but he won a seat as an independent in 2009.
Two Shannon independents also held their seats, Patricia McCarthy and Gerry Flynn, leaving the town with three sitting county councillors.