Carthy taking the positive as he’s the last councillor to fall
WHILE he may have held out to be the longest sitting county councillor still in the race, it was mixed emotions for independent candidate Ger Carthy as he bowed out of the race after being eliminated on Count 8.
While the Chairman of the Rosslare Municipal District was a little disappointed not to have been in the mix for the final seat, he was also proud of his performance, lasting the pace into day two and outlasting two of the Fianna Fáil candidates, leapfrogging Count Council Chairman in the last of Sunday’s counts to make day two.
‘When this is done I’ll have around 6,000 votes,’ he said. ‘That’s a good result for me. I’m very grateful to the people of Wexford.’
‘Sinn Féin in fairness to them got the mandate from the people. Johnny Mythen is a very decent guy as well. With that mandate now comes responsibility, but I wish him well.’
Reflecting once more on his own performance, Cllr Carthy added: ‘Look, there were a lot of casualties before me. I’ll live to fight another day. I’m disappointed for my team, but nobody died. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I was more transfer friendly this time, which is positive. But that’s a result of my work on the council over the last few years.’
While a rivalry has built up in recent times between Carthy and Verona Murphy, ironically it appeared that Carthy’s votes would play a huge part in bringing his fellow independent candidate over the line.
‘That’s just the way it is,’ he said.
‘That’s the cut and thrust of politics. I wish nothing but the best of luck to the remaining candidates.’
While there were questions on everyone’s lips about whether a government will be formed and whether we will be back at the count centre much sooner than anticipated, Carthy is ready for it. When asked if he’d return should we find ourselves back here in a couple of months, he smiled before replying: ‘Sure why wouldn’t I?’