Cree native, Dinny Gould (IND) who was the first councillor to be elected in the Kilrush Local Electoral Area said he did not expect he would top the poll.
Dinny Gould took 1863 votes in the seventh count after he picked up 143 transfers from Fine Gael’s Therese Doohan thus reaching the quota required of 1817 votes.
Speaking to The Clare Champion following his victory at the count centre in Ennis, Mr Gould said he didn’t ever think he would come in first and even thought he might have been fighting for the last seat.
“I am grateful to all the people who stood by me, and all the people who canvassed. I got a great vote, and you know everyone stood behind me – my own parish especially.
He said the secret to his success was he is fairly well known throughout the region and wider county on account of his bookmaking business. He also attributed his achievement to his team of canvassers, friends and family.
Moving forward, the business man of 45 years feels there are a lot of things to be done in West Clare. He said his top priority as a new county councillor is to sort out the unsewered network in most villages in the region however, there are a lot of things to be done overall.
Sharon Dolan D’Arcy covers West Clare news. After completing a masters in journalism at University of Galway, Sharon worked as a court reporter at the Sligo Weekender. She was also editor of the Athenry News and Views.