Two new independent candidates have emerged to contest the Local Elections in the Portlaoise Municipal District this June.
Dom Dunne, who ran for Renua in 2019 and came close to winning the final seat on that occasion, is set to run as an independent this time around.
Originally from The Swan, Dunne has been a long-time resident in Portlaoise where he lives with his wife and three children.
He runs a tyre business, Dublin Road Tyres, based at Des Hughes Motors on the Dublin Road.
Tommy Mulligan, meanwhile, is also to be on the ballot paper as an independent.
Mulligan is a primary school teacher in Scoil Bhride in Knockmay and has a strong GAA pedigree, an All Ireland minor football winner with Laois in 1996 and 1997 and multiple county championship winner with Portlaoise in hurling and football. He’s currently part of the management team with the Portlaoise senior football team.
He was a selector with the Laois team under Billy Sheehan in 2023 and has also been involved on stage with the Portlaoise Musical Society in their various productions in recent years.
Both men have confirmed to LaoisToday that they are running and are both expected to officially launch their campaigns in the coming weeks.
There are seven seats up for grabs in the Portlaoise Municipal District, an area that includes the town of Portlaoise and its environs as well as the likes of Abbeyleix, Ballyroan and Ballinakill.
As it stands, just under three months from election day, there are 15 candidates in the race in Portlaoise, including all seven sitting councillors. In 2019 and 2014, there were 16 candidates.
Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin all have three candidates confirmed while Labour and the Greens have one apiece.
Currently, there are four independents.
Sinn Féin announced earlier this week that the Abbeyleix-based Jason Phelan has been added to their ticket, alongside sitting councillor Caroline Dwane-Stanley and Maria McCormack.
Marie Tuohy, who was co-opted to replace her husband Noel, will be running for Labour.
Fine Gael have opted to run the three councillors they currently have – Willie Aird, Thomasina Connell and Barry Walsh, who was co-opted in place of Mary Sweeney.
Fianna Fáil have sitting councillors John Joe Fennelly and Catherine Fitzgerald as well as Naeem Iqbal, who was an independent five years ago.
Rosie Palmer from Ballinakill is running for the Green Party.
Among the independent candidates confirmed, as well as the aforementioned Dom Dunne and Tommy Mulligan, Pauline Flanagan and Donal Kelly are in the running – both of whom ran for Fianna Fáil in 2019.
As it stands, the list of candidates, in alphabetical order, are:
- Willie Aird (Fine Gael)*
- Thomasina Connell (Fine Gael)*
- Dom Dunne (Independent)
- Caroline Dwane-Stanley (Sinn Féin)*
- John Joe Fennelly (Fianna Fáil)*
- Catherine Fitzgerald (Fianna Fáil)*
- Pauline Flanagan (Independent)
- Naeem Iqbal (Fianna Fáil)
- Donal Kelly (Independent)
- Maria McCormack (Sinn Féin)
- Tommy Mulligan (Independent)
- Rosie Palmer (Green Party)
- Jason Phelan (Sinn Féin)
- Marie Tuohy (Labour)*
- Barry Walsh (Fine Gael)*
* Denotes a current member of Laois County Council
SEE ALSO – Check out all our 2024 Local Election coverage here
SEE ALSO – Box by box – how your area voted in the 2019 Local Elections in the Portlaoise Municipal District
