And so a new year stretches out in front of us.
As always there is plenty to look forward to on the local news scene.
It’s set to be a huge year on the election front with the Local and European Elections definitely on the agenda on the weekend of June 7-9.
We could also have a General Election in the offing, though the timing of that is far from certain.
In terms of a General Election, the big issue locally will be the name that Fine Gael put forward following Charlie Flanagan’s retirement.
Once again we’ll welcome the Electric Picnic and the National Ploughing Championships to Laois while Laois hurling and football will again be huge topics of local interest.
Below we take a look at some of these storylines in more detail.
1 – Local Elections
The 2024 Local Elections will be held on the first weekend in June and will make for fascinating viewing, just as they do every five years.
The big thing to keep an eye on is the performance of Sinn Féin. In 2019, they suffered huge losses at local level only to emphatically bounce back eight months later in the 2020 General Elections.
This time in Laois they are running a record number of seven candidates – and that could even increase before polling day comes around. They are duly on course for a record number of seats in Laois County Council.
If that does transpire, who will be the biggest losers? Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have six councillors apiece (out of a total of 19) and hold the balance of power in the chamber.
An increased Sinn Féin representation could see them take all the plum council roles with the support of independents and/or Labour.
Or could we see Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil do business?
Across the three municipal districts in the county, there are 19 seats up for grabs. There will probably be 40+ candidates. Come the spring time, the canvassing will start in earnest.
No matter what happens, it’ll be the local news story of the year.
2 – A possible General Election and Fine Gael’s chosen candidate
We have to have a General Election by early February 2025 but the current coalition parties could opt to go sooner – and an October/November date is probably most likely.
As it was in 2016, Laois will once again be a three-seater constituency as we again split from our long-time constituency colleagues in Offaly.
This time the Laois constituency welcomes back Portarlington, Killenard and Ballybrittas – but if the 2016 election is anything to go by it’s likely to be a damp squib.
On that occasion, there were only six candidates and it took only six counts as Sean Fleming (Fianna Fáil), Brian Stanley (Sinn Féin) and Charlie Flanagan (Fine Gael) comfortably took the three seats.
It’s hard to see anything other than one seat apiece for each of the main parties again this time around but the main point of interest will be the Fine Gael name on the ticket.
Charlie Flanagan has announced he won’t be running again, as he is bringing the curtain down on his lengthy political career. But who will replace him?
The party has an almost embarrassment of riches in terms of young ambitious councillors. Which one of them will be chosen to run? Or will they put two on the ballot and let the best man or woman win the day?
A Fine Gael Dáil seat in Laois would appear to be one for life. Whoever does emerge victorious could have a bright national political career out in front of them.
3 – An earlier Electric Picnic
2024 will mark exactly 20 years since the Electric Picnic Music and Arts Festival first rolled into Stradbally.
Back on September 4, 2004, 10,000 people came to Stradbally Hall for what was a one-day festival headlined by Groove Armada and 2 Many DJs.
It was a gloriously sunny day and it proved such a success that orgainsers made it into two-day festival for 2005. Fatboy Slim, Arcade Fire and a youthful James Blunt were among the main acts.
Electric Picnic became a three-day camping event in 2006 with 30,000 tickets sold and that number rose to 57,500 by 2019.
Covid-19 halted the 2020 and 2021 editions but Electric Picnic returned bigger than ever in 2022 with 70,000 people coming for the weekend in Stradbally.
That number remained for 2023 and the festival is already sold out for this year with 75,000 tickets gone – but there will be one big change as it will take place earlier than ever before.
Electric Picnic 2024 will take place from August 16-18, two weeks earlier than usual, and while no official reason for the change was ever given, it has been speculated that the move is to avoid a direct clash with Coldplay who are in Croke Park across the first weekend of September.
Festival Organiser Melvin Benn has denied that and that the change is only temporary and also says that he has a plan that will allow the farmers who need to harvest their grain in Stradbally during the festival to do so.
The first Electric Picnic line-up announcement for 2023 came in December 2022 so while that corresponding date has passed, fans shouldn’t have to wait too much longer for one you’d imagine.
While it will have its detractors, Electric Picnic has been a huge success story for Laois. The boost it provides to the local economy cannot be quantified and for Stradbally itself, it is like a second Christmas for local retailers.
And purely from an entertainment point of view, to have some of the best music acts from around the globe on our doorstep is something that we should never take for granted. Here’s hoping we have another 20 years at least!
4 – Ploughing in Laois again – can it recover from a tough 2023?
For the third year running the National Ploughing Championships will return to Ratheniska.
The Ratheniska site hosted the first post-pandemic event in 2022, having previously also been the venue in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Indeed it has rarely been far from us, understandable given our central location and the fact that the NPA headquarters are based at Anna May McHugh’s home in Fallaghmore near Ballyadams.
In 2019 it was in Ballintrane, near Fenagh, in Carlow and from 2016 to 2018 it was outside Tullamore at Screggan.
You have to go back to 2012 when it was hosted in New Ross in Wexford for the last time it was any distance away and even the three years prior to that it was in Cardenton in Athy.
It has all been a considerable financial boost to numerous local sports clubs, many of whom have benefitted greatly from providing stewards and been reimbursed accordingly.
But the 2023 event was a tough one for all concerned due to the horrendous weather and the crowds were considerably down, though it still attracted just over 200,000 over the three days, once again making it a massive attraction.
Yet that figure was down from 277,000 in 2022 and 297,000 in 2019 according to the NPA and there’s no denying that it hasn’t had the same level of exhibitors – particularly in terms of machinery – since Covid.
Can it hit the really big numbers again in 2024 – and will it be back in Ratheniska for a fourth year running in 2025?
5 – Laois football
Football in Laois is at an incredibly low ebb. For the third time in the last seven seasons, our senior team find themselves in the bottom tier of the National Football League.
The minors won only one game last year while the U-20s provided a bit of a spark by reaching the semi final and losing out to eventual All-Ireland champions Kildare.
As the song goes – The Only Way Is Up – and you’d certainly hope that this would be the case in 2024.
Laois have gone back in time somewhat to try and turns things around by appointing Armagh native Justin McNulty who previously managed the team from 2010 to 2013.
Those four seasons were actually the longest continuous spell that any Laois manager has managed since Mick O’Dwyer and led Laois to Division 1 of the league and an All-Ireland quarter final place.
Laois are a million miles away from that now but they will be targeting getting out of Division 4 first and foremost.
The Leinster championship is a bit of a waste of time and then it will all be all about the Tailteann Cup where Laois will be hoping for a run similar to last season – with a better ending this time.
On the local scene, the senior championship looks as wide open as it has ever been. St Joseph’s are champions but they will face challenges from the likes of Ballyroan-Abbey, Portarlington, Graiguecullen, Portlaoise and O’Dempsey’s. While there is always some team that comes through the pack.
The same can be said for the intermediate championship where relegated Park-Ratheniska don’t look as strong as The Heath or Ballylinan who bounced straight back up over the last two years.
In Junior, St Joseph’s second team will be hard to beat but Barrowhouse, Kilcavan, The Rock, Spink and The Harps will be there or there abouts.
6 – Laois hurling
While not quite as low as the footballers, the Laois senior hurlers have slipped down the ladder a bit in recent years.
This will be their second successive year in the Joe McDonagh Cup while for the first time in more than a decade, they have dropped into the second tier in the National Hurling League.
Tipperary native Willie Maher has assembled a strong looking panel for the 2024 season and they have already began brightly with a Walsh Cup home win against Offaly.
It may only be January, but that was a fixture that Laois lost last year and winning is a habit that they should get fairly used to as this year goes on.
In Division 2, Laois will play Down, Kildare, Meath, Kerry and Carlow where they will be favourites to win every game. And that should allow them to build some momentum before heading into the Joe McDonagh Cup.
Laois were in Division 1 for the last number of years but largely shipped double digit beatings and picked up a host of injuries due to the physical nature of hurling at that level.
This year, they should be capable of winning games and also avoid picking up those attrition-related injuries.
On the local scene, senior club hurling had been dominated for more than the last decade by Camross, Clough-Ballacolla, Rathdowney-Errill and Borris-Kilcotton.
But that was broken up last year as the latter was relegated and Abbeyleix came through the pack to reach the final.
Expect the likes of The Harps and Castletown to make similar strides in the coming years with the big story being that there will be no relegation next year as the 2025 SHC will have ten teams.
That makes getting to the Premier IHC final very important as those teams will both be promoted with two of Borris-Kilcotton, Ballinakill and Ballyfin likely to be in contention.
The Intermediate grade is typically a minefield and Trumera probably start as early favourites but there will be several other contenders.
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