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Tag Archives: le14

Mayor of Clare Joe Arkins

Arkins pays tribute to ‘fallen’ in final speech as mayor

It was the end of a three-term 15-year stint in the council for Ruan’s Joe Arkins when he handed over the mayoral chain he has worn for the past year at the Clare County Council annual general meeting last week. When Mr Arkins lost his seat in the May local election he was widely seen as a victim of the redrawing of the electoral area boundaries. It was therefore poignant that as out-going mayor, he paid tribute “to the fallen.” “To Pat Keane, Oliver Garry, Brian Meaney, Pascal Fitzgerald, Tony Mulqueen, Sean McLoughlin who along with the retirees have given nearly two centuries of service, I want to acknowledge their service and their contribution to their respective communities and to county Clare and to wish each and every one of them the very best in the future,” he said. The former councillor complimented his retired colleagues and congratulated the newly-elected members “especially the three lady councillors. Patricia [McCarthy] was the …

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Poll topper in Killaloe area Joe Cooney is lifted on high by supporters as he is deemed elected during the election count at The West county Hotel, Ennis. Photograph by John Kelly.

Mistakes were made in local elections

THE parties behind the big winners in the Local Elections have all admitted they made mistakes and each believes it cost them seats. When the newly-elected Clare County Council sits for its June 6 AGM, there will be 12 Fianna Fáil, eight Fine Gael, seven Independent and one Sinn Féin members. In percentage terms, 57.5% of the electorate voted, with 52,114 people casting their ballot. Despite picking up nearly 36% of the valid poll, Fianna Fáil’s director of elections, Gerry Reidy, said he believes they could have managed two further councillors in West Clare and in Shannon. Fine Gael, while securing 31.5% of the valid vote, took some heavy blows, with Mayor of Clare Joe Arkins losing his seat after opting to run in the Killaloe area. Independents secured over one fifth of the available vote and with it, a quarter of all representatives in the new council. Sinn Féin, with 4.2% of the total valid poll, had a candidate …

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Clare Local Elections 2014: The count in pictures

As candidates became Clare County Councillors and weeks of door-to-door canvassing took their toll, ‘Champion photographer John Kelly captured local election tales on the faces of those watching the votes being counted and reactions to the results.   [doptg id=”23″]  

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Signs of resurgence for Fianna Fáil in the West

There are signs of a Fianna Fáil resurgence in West Clare as party men will occupy four out of the eight council seats in the electoral area for the next five years. Sitting councillor Michael Hillery (FF) was elected in the 11th count. He puts part of his vote down to the elimination of Fine Gael’s Corofin-based candidate Gerry Kennedy. “When the tally came in yesterday and I had almost 1400 votes I thought I was in fourth position so I thought I was quite safe. Looking at the overall tally I knew there were a lot of candidates in the Southern section of the area and when they would be eliminated I wouldn’t get many votes from that particular area and that is what would happen but when Gerry Kennedy was eliminated that is when the thing changed around and it looked good from there on in and I’m delighted that it resulted in me being elected in Clare,” …

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Family work as hard as candidates says Nagle

Councillor Richard Nagle, (FF) has been re-elected to Clare County Council. Shortly after 6pm Councillor Nagle was elected as the second councillor to West Clare, after Christy Curtin (NP). Councillor Nagle paid tribute to his canvassers and all who had helped him get elected, especially his family, “who have seen very little of me over the last three months and did everything possible to support me and put up with my moods during the campaign.” “It is equally as tough on family members as it is on the candidate because during a long campaign, extending over three months candidates have various mood swings going from highs to lows and the people living with them have to put up with those mood swings and everyone in my family helped out in several ways, not just in one way and it is as difficult, if not more difficult, for family members as it is for the candidate. Today is one of the …

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Emotional election for Slattery and Senator Conway

A clearly emotional Bill Slattery hugged an even more emotional Senator Martin Conway at the count centre in Ennis after the former was deemed elected shortly after 6pm on Sunday. Councillor Slattery was co-opted to a seat in North Clare electoral area after Conway, then a county councillor, was elected to the Seánad in 2011. Councillor Slattery ran in the local elections in 1999. “I went with Martin Conway and geographically we weren’t situated that well, I being from Lahinch and he being from Ennistymon…I didn’t get elected and I haven’t been involved in politics until I was asked to go for co-option in 2011, after the election of Martin to the senate. I was very reluctant that time because I had left politics but since I was co-opted I put my head down and worked very hard for the last three years to get where I am today and it has paid off with the work I have done …

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No birthday ‘miracle’ for Kennedy

Gerard Kennedy (FG) didn’t get the birthday present he was hoping for today after a recount of the West Clare electoral area saw him eliminated. Mr Kennedy requested the recount after he was eliminated on the fifth vote with just six votes separating him from Fianna Fáil’s Pat Keane. “The advice I got was that it was worth having a recount because at that stage we didn’t know what the story was. I was always under pressure in the position I was in because so many of the candidates around me were all from the Southern end of the constituency so I was unlikely to pick up any transfers,” he told the ‘Champion. Yesterday (Saturday) it looked like Mr Kennedy had polled much worse than his 1,010 first preferences. Tallies showed him more than 200 below this. “I was very disappointed because I thought that 780 was a poor enough reflection on what we had done on the canvas, and …

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Curtin elected to West Clare on first count

For the fifth time, Independent Christy Curtin has topped the poll in his electoral area. He was elected on the first count with 42 votes to spare. He gathered 1,938 votes in the new constituency which includes much of the old Ennistymon Electoral Area. According to Christy, the change in boundary made a considerable difference. “The change in boundary definitely benefitted me. I am strategically located in Miltown Malbay and I worked in Kilmihil for almost 30 years, I started my career in Ennistymon but I am located well geographically and the demographic suited me,” he said. The change brought Miltown Malbay, his home, back into the electoral area in which he was standing. “I was extremely nervous. I was back again in my own home town after 22 years and there was a strong candidate there already and for that reason I felt nervous, but they did not let me down, they stood by me,” he said. Councillor Curtin …

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