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Nearly there now. After weeks of canvassing and years of planning in some cases, the 2019 Local and European Elections are almost upon us.
Thirty nine candidates have put themselves forward in Laois for the 19 seats that are available on the County Council.
Eighteen of the sitting councillors are seeking to be re-elected and the odd one out – long-time Ballylinan councillor John Moran – is staying within the family as his daughter Aisling seeks to hold the seat for Fine Gael in the Graiguecullen-Portarlington Municipal District.
There are nine candidates for the six seats in that Graigue-Port area, 16 for seven in Portlaoise and 14 for six in Borris-in-Ossory/Mountmellick.
It will also be the first Local Elections in Laois since 1967 that won’t have the name Jerry Lodge on the ballot paper, following his sad passing last year.
Ahead of polling day, Steven Miller, managing editor of LaoisToday, sat down with our political columnist John Whelan to look at all three areas.
John first covered the Local Elections in 1979 and is a veteran of the local political scene both as a reporter and a candidate, including two General Election attempts himself for Labour and a five-year spell as a Senator.
We look in depth at each area, each candidate and how it all might play out.
You can listen to the discussion in full here.
SEE ALSO – Check out all the LaoisToday Local Election coverage here
