KILLARNEY is poised to become one of the most intriguing local election battlegrounds at the weekend with several strong independents hoping to outsmart and out-poll the establishment parties in the new-look eight-seat constituency.
Desperate last gasp campaigning has been escalating all week with some candidates going to the considerable expense of printing updated glossy canvass cards and flooding approach road poles with additional posters in an attempt to woo undecided voters.
Whether national opinion poll predictions are reflected on the ground locally remains uncertain as the Killarney electoral area has always bucked nationwide trends and, traditionally, it has been too difficult to call right up to the close of the polling booths.
There are 16 candidates vying for the eight seats and six of them were also in the field in the last local authority elections, on 5 June 2009, when there was one less position up for grabs.
Experience
Independents Danny Healy-Rae and Brendan Cronin, Michael Gleeson of the South Kerry Independent Alliance and Fine Gael duo John Sheahan and Bobby O’Connell all succeeded in winning seats on that occasion while Donal Grady, also an independent, narrowly lost out, despite polling in excess of 1,000 first preferences. Grady, an astute campaigner, has gained vast political experience since then and the support he has received from his political veteran brother, Seán, is likely to have a huge bearing on his performance this time out.
Tom Fleming, then of Fianna Fail, and Labour’s Marie Moloney were the other victors in 2009 but they vacated the council chambers to further their political careers in the Dáil and Senate respectively, with John Joe Culloty and Seán Counihan co-opted to take their places.
Both Counihan and Culloty are back in the field this Friday and will be hoping that their council grounding, the vast experience they have gained and the substantial support they have amassed in the interim stands to them. A personal eve of polling day letter from Senator Marie Moloney, seeking support for her Labour colleague and hand-delivered to homes, will have done his cause no harm.
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Healy-Rae, Gleeson and Cronin are all vastly experienced campaigners and master vote-winners and it will come as a shock of monumental proportions if they are not all in the shake-up at the top of the field. They will be hoping, if anything, to add to their already impressive first preference record on this occasion as they are among the most experienced and effective campaigners in the entire county.
The other candidates five years ago were Brian O’Leary of Fianna Fail, who lost his seat, Sinn Fein duo Lynn Ní Bhaoigheallain and Con Walsh and Conor O’Neill of the Greens who could only manage double figures in the first count.
Interestingly, despite polling very poorly and losing her deposit in Killarney, the politically born again Ní Bhaoigheallain is this week expected to top the Euro elections poll for Sinn Fein in Dublin.
The Sinn Fein flagbearer in Killarney on this occasion is local painter/decorator John Buckley who will be confident of his chances given the party’s soaring poll ratings and the fact that he is very well known having been born and reared in Killarney where he is a high-profile competitive angler.
Campaigner
Another left wing candidate in the line-up is independent pro-change hopeful Brian McCarthy who has a background in hospitality but, more recently, worked as a carer and home help. A well-known sportsman and campaigner, he has staged a strong canvass, seeking a fairer deal for the less well off.
Fine Gael has opted for a three-candidate strategy on this occasion with outgoing Killarney councillor Cathal Walshe joining Sheahan and O’Connell and the former garda will hope that his involvement in several community groups will give him an edge.
There was precious little between Sheahan and O’Connell in 2009 – just 64 votes separated them in the first count – and party sources have indicated that it could be just as close – if not closer – at the weekend.
Tom Fleming’s constituency secretary Lynda Horgan is in the field as an independent and while she might be an election novice, the Fleming factor cannot be underestimated and some would suggest that the Gneeveguilla resident could possibly spring a surprise.
The other fascinating sideshow in the Killarney electoral area will be the internal wrangle for power within Fianna Fail and one of the biggest unanswered questions is who will emerge as the strong performers from the four candidates.
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Possession of a seat is likely to be a big advantage for the hardworking John Joe Culloty, who has built a strong political base, but all eyes will be on Cllr Anne McEllistrim who has switched to the Killarney electoral area to facilitate her brother, Tom, in Tralee. Well-known in the strategically crucial Castleisland region, it remains to be seen if she can glean sufficient support in Killarney to enable her to return to Aras Chontae, having being added to the ticket by the FF National Executive. And, as many in Tralee will testify, you can never, ever, write off a Mac.
Rathmore’s Niall Kelleher has run one of the most visible and dynamic campaigns and the progressive Killarney-based businessman will be hoping that his high-profile will be sufficient to edge him ahead of Killarney postman John O’Shea who is also expecting to poll well.
O’Shea has the backing of the traditional FF party organisation in the Killarney urban area and will be relying on supporters of former councillor Brian O’Leary and the O’Donoghue family to help his cause.
Convention
Outgoing Killarney town council member Tom Doherty had hoped to be on the FF ticket but after a dead heat with John O’Shea at a highly contentious convention, his hopes were scuppered in cruel fashion when O’Shea’s name was drawn from a hat.
Doherty may well have had good reason to feel aggrieved when he wasn’t added to the ticket and, given his political experience and good track record, it came as no surprise when he opted to contest the election as an independent community candidate, running a very measured and efficient campaign.
* 2009 election graphic from ElectionsIreland.org
