Political landscape shrouded by fog of boundary changes

THE voting landscape has shifted in the Wexford area due to recent boundary changes, rendering it difficult to make predictions based on past performances.

In the 2014 local elections, there were 10 seats on offer for one municipal district council but the Boundary Commission has split the district into two - with a seven-seat Wexford electoral area and a five-seat Rosslare LEA, returning the number of seats to a pre-2014 level.

Independent councillor Ger Carthy topped the Wexford poll last time round with 1,932 first preferences when the quota was 1,451, followed in second and third place by Sinn Fein’s Anthony Kelly and George Lawlor of Labour, but this time, he finds himself confined to the voting catchment of the new Rosslare district where he is up against four other sitting councillors (Jim Moore and Frank Staples of Fine Gael, Lisa McDonald of Fianna Fail and Mick Roche of Sinn Fein) along with fresh contenders Paul Codd (FG), Michael Wallace (FF), Jane Johnstone (Independent) and Elaine Cole (Aontu), for the five seats.

Whether the boundary change proves to be a benefit or a disadvantage for the sitting councillors remains to be seen but all five have performed well and while Cllr. Staples was absent from many Council meetings during the term due to ill-health, he has a strong standing within the Fine Gael party and a high profile through the ASK mental health campaign which he helped to found.

Cllr. Lisa McDonald who was co-opted onto the Council following the tragic death of the late Cllr. Fergie Kehoe, is facing into interesting territory as she contests her first local election (she previously polled well as a General Election candidate and sat in the Senate).

There is a question mark over which local electoral area would suit her better - the Rosslare district where she lives (she is from Piercestown and lives with her family in Murrintown) or the Wexford area, where she has a high profile through her solicitor’s practice in Rowe Street.

It is fair to say that the contenders for the Rosslare seats will have a job on their hands unseating the incumbents with the added twist of a threat to Jim Moore and Frank Staples coming from within their own party, with a third Fine Gael candidate in a tight field in the form of Paul Codd, son of the late and highly-regarded councillor Pat Codd.

In the 2014 election, then first time Sinn Féin councillor Mick Roche of Bridgetown was greatly assisted by the surplus of Anthony Kelly (who retired during the term due to ill-health) in his election in eight place, but this time, he will have no such spill-over to benefit from as he is he only Sinn Fein candidate in the field, but on the other hand, he is well embedded in the area.

Independent and well-known disability campaigner Jane Johnstone is the only non-incumbent in the Rosslare field who has contested the local elections before. She stood five years ago and finished in 13th place with 616 votes on count 12.

The sitting councillors going into the race again in the Wexford electoral area on May 24 are George Lawlor (Labour) David Hynes (Independent), Tom Forde (Sinn Fein) and Tony Walsh (People Before Profit) with Fianna Fail councillor and current Mayor, Tony Dempsey not throwing his hat in the ring, as he has decided to retire.

It will cause no surprises if the seasoned local politician Cllr. Lawlor tops the poll in Wexford. Based on performance and profile, he is likely to be the pace-setter.

Cllr. Hynes, a defector from Labour during the coalition Government’s austerity period, is a hard-working councillor on the ground who got elected without a party machine in the last election, coming in ninth out of 10 places, and is going it alone again this time.

Primary schoolteacher Tom Forde may not have had as long a run at the election as he would have liked, having been co-opted to fill Anthony Kelly’s seat in December 2017, but he has impressed with his earnest approach and his campaigning on issues such as homelessness and social issues, and he also has the advantage of being the only Sinn Fein candidate in the running in the urban area.

Tony Walsh was also co-opted in late 2017 to fill the People Before Profit vacancy created by the departure of Deirdre Wadding who took the 10th and final seat in 2014. He has brought a refreshingly non-combative approach in his contribution to meetings and has spoken up on social and environmental issues.

Sitting Gorey councillor John Hegarty of Fine Gael who served as chairman of Wexford County Council in 2018, may prove to be a dark horse in the race. He is an experienced and polished performer and for the first time, is contesting the Wexford district where he lives and works.

Cllr. Hegarty is a teacher in Wexford CBS secondary school which has the distinction of also being the workplace of another candidate, Joe Ryan of Labour, a former councillor and Mayor of Wexford who lost out in the last election, but has continued to work hard as a local area respresentative.

Joining Cllr. Lawlor and Mr. Ryan on the Labour ticket is the well-known manager of the Irish National Heritage Park in Ferrycarrig, Maura Bell, who is widely connected.

Cllr. Hegarty is joined on the Fine Gael ticket by longstanding party activist Angela Reville, a daughter of the former councillor and Mayor Philomena Roche, and by newcomer Ger Walsh, a former editor of the Wexford People Group of newspapers who has long had a keen interest in politics.

Bride Street church sacristan Colin Murphy is hoping to gain a Wexford town seat for Fianna Fail for the first time since the late Cllr. Fergie Kehoe served on the Council while his party colleague Garry Laffan of Glynn, will be relying on his GAA credentials and party activism to capture votes.

Independent Leonard Kelly of Clonard gave an impressive performance in his first outing in the local elections of 2014, finishing in 11th place, and will be hoping that the work he has done in the community since then, will convert to enough extra votes to get him past the post.

For mother of seven Elaine Cole, it’s a case of new candidate and new party, as she stands for Aontú in the Wexford electoral area.

It is worth noting that the number of declared Independent candidates putting their names forward, is lower than usual, with only two (Hynes and Kelly) in Wexford and two (Carthy and Johnstone) in Rosslare, as opposed to seven independents last time round.

There were four female candidates in 2014, of which one (Deirdre Wadding) was elected and an equivalent number of women candidates has declared for the forthcoming election.

It’s fair to say the contenders for the Rosslare seats will have a job on their hands unseating the incumbents