Long-serving Fianna Fáil councillor Seamus McDonald is in a battle to retain his seat in the Borris-in-Ossory/Mountmellick Municipal District.
The Mountmellick-based Fine Gael candidate Paddy Buggy is set to exceed 1,000 first preference votes in what is his third time to contest the Local Elections – but despite the very impressive showing, it may not be enough as McDonald will almost certainly get transfers from his running mates.
First elected in 1985, McDonald, from Rosenallis, will fare well on transfers from his Fianna Fáil colleague Declan Good in nearby Rosenallis – while Fintan Cuddy and Brian Phelan, in Castletown and Rathdowney respectively, will also send a decent percentage of votes to McDonald.
Fine Gael and Buggy could well rue not having an additional candidate on the ticket – with three on the ballot on this occasion compared to four in 2019.
Conor Bergin appears set to top the poll in his second election – with a very strong showing which is likely to make him the leading candidate to contest the next General Election for Fine Gael and attempt to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Charlie Flanagan.
Independents Ollie Clooney in Durrow and James Kelly in Mountrath are set to retain their seats as is Paddy Bracken in Mountmellick.
John King in Rathdowney is also in a strong position, approximately 150 votes ahead of Buggy. With the quota likely to be around 1,700, there will be no major surplus to come into play – so the distribution of votes will primarily come from the lower placed candidates.
Again, as in Portlaoise, it was a disappointing campaign for the Sinn Féin candidates with Lorna Holohan-Garry losing about 200 votes on her showing in 2019 while Helen Campion not making an impact in Rathdowney.
Fianna Fáil’s candidates Fintan Cuddy, Declan Good and Brian Phelan will also be disappointed with their showing – though all candidates seeking to make a breakthrough have the tough job of unseating a sitting councillor.
Votes are now being counted in the old Ging’s warehouse in the Kealew Business Park but is likely to continue throughout Sunday and possibly Monday.
The full available tally, minus the St Vincent’s Mountmellick votes, is as follows.
- Conor Bergin (FG) – 1,582
- Paddy Bracken (FF) 1,395
- James Kelly (Ind) – 1,273
- Ollie Clooney (Ind) – 1,244
- John King (FG) – 1,189
- Paddy Buggy (FG) – 1,048
- Seamus McDonald (FF) – 1,012
- Brian Phelan (FF) – 539
- Fintan Cuddy (FF) – 526
- Lorna Holohan-Garry – 440
- Helen Campion (SF) 398
- Declan Good (FF) 248
- Kevin Drennan (Ind) – 173
- Fiona Dunne (Green) – 107
- Bryan Corrigan (Lab) – 79
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