SIMON BROUDER

Moriarty saw off all challengers

AS the fallout from the General Election continues, party strategists across the country will be having a close look at the tally sheets to try and work out just how the remarkable result unfolded.

Kerry will be no different, and an examination of the 2016 and 2020 General Election tallies offers up some fascinating insights into how the election was won and lost in the constituency.

The Kerryman decided to take a closer look at a few key areas in Kerry to get a better handle on what happened in the county and why.

The story of the General Election has been the phenomenal rise of Sinn Féin, and Kerry was no exception.

Though Michael Healy-Rae did manage to keep Pa Daly from topping the poll – no mean feat given Sinn Féin’s barnstorming performances across the state – the Sinn Féin vote surged across most of the county.

Voters in Tralee, Killarney and Listowel backed Sinn Féin in large numbers, and the party was a significant presence in ballot boxes across much of the constituency, rivalling the HealyRae brothers’ combined vote in many of them.

An interesting trend that emerges from the tallies is Sinn Féin’s failure to expand its vote along the Iveragh peninsula, however.

While the party did pick up votes in the area, its support waned noticeably in ballot boxes from towns and villages south of Killorglin and Kenmare.

Sinn Féin has made major inroads in Killarney – a town where it has never traditionally had a significant support base – but its growth further south looks to be proceeding at a much slower pace.

Meanwhile, the

A LOOK at how the southern end of the Iveragh peninsula voted highlights the uphill struggle faced by candidates based in more peripheral areas.

In and around Cahersiveen, Waterville and Valentia, Cllr Norma Moriarty secured a huge vote, easily overcoming her rivals, including the Healy-Rae clan.

Based on the cross-party election tally in Cahersiveen, Waterville, Valentia and Portmagee, Moriarty won a considerable 1,109 votes, putting her well ahead of most of the chasing pack.

Michael Healy-Rae was close but, on 920 votes, still lagging behind, while Fine Gael’s Brendan Griffin and Sinn Féin’s Pa Daly were trailing in her wake with just 306 and 355 votes respectively.

In Cahersiveen town, Cllr Moriarty dominated the Healy-Rae machine, picking up tallies also clearly show the devastating impact that the presence of Norma Foley on the ticket had on her Fianna Fáil running mate John Brassil’s vote.

Tough Brassil’s vote was down across most of the county it was the loss of Tralee, to locally based Foley, that dealt the killer blow to his chances of holding his seat.

Brassil’s vote was down by a massive 1,281 votes in Tralee town, and the tallies suggest that the vast majority of these votes went directly to Norma Foley and sent her to the Dáil in Brassil’s place.

The Green party has also fared well across the county and should have high hopes of securing a council seat in the near future. 480 votes to Michael’s 286 and Danny’s 21.

Cleo Murphy of the Green Party picked up 196 votes in the area with the vast majority of those, 119, coming from Valentia Island. Indeed Murphy won the largest share of the vote on the island, where Cllr Moriarty and Michael Healy-Rae played out a draw.

While Waterville-based Cllr Moriarty romped home on her own patch, her vote ebbed away further north along the peninsula. By the time she reached Glenbeigh and Sneem, her votes, while still decent, were falling away, leaving her with an electoral mountain to climb to secure a seat.

Another interesting facet of the election in the area was Sinn Féin’s poor showing in the region. While Pa Daly secured a massive vote across most of the county, his first-preference share was far smaller in almost all boxes south of Kenmare and Killorglin.

Danny Healy-Rae picked up a handful of votes in the area, 26 to be precise, but the brothers’ combined tally still saw them behind Griffin.

Fianna Fáil had what could charitably be described as a poor performance in west Kerry. Between them, outgoing TD John Brassil, Norma Foley and Norma Moriarty only managed to pull in a combined vote of 222 votes, less than half of Griffin’s tally and well behind Sinn Féin.

Interestingly predictions of a Green Party surge in the area did not materialise. While Cleo Murphy performed well in the area, she picked up just 193 votes in the boxes examined here. It was certainly a decent showing but it is considerably lower than the Green vote many commentators had predicted before the election. Doubtless her party has room for growth in the area.