O’Connor one of the big casualties of election
‘Worth the long wait’ for Fitzgerald
ARGUABLY ONE of the biggest casualties of Local Election 2014 was the mayor of Cork County, Cllr Noel O'Connor who lost his seat having secured just over 1,300 first preference votes.
Reflecting on his poor performance at the polls, Cllr O'Connor said that from the very beginning he was under no illusions about the task facing him if he was to retain his seat on the council.
“It was always going to be very difficult given the strong representation from the Mallow side of the electoral area where there were five candidates effectively running for three seats. The changing of the electoral area boundary did not help either,” said Cllr O'Connor.
“We ran the best election campaign I have ever been involved with to combat these issues.”
Cllr O'Connor accused the independents and Sinn Fein of “hijacking” the wider election campaign with what he described as Utopian promises.
“They promised an unachievable Utopia without offering any real alternative to how matters of great importance could be solved.
“Take the issue of water charges. It's not really enough to just say get rid of them without putting a viable, money raising alternative in place,” he said.
Cllr O'Connor said he looked back with great pride of his record of achievement in politics and his involvement with local issues.
“Unfortunately, our government politicians did little to help us at local level. The issue of assessing medical cards so close to an election was an obvious mistake,” he said.
“I do not see this as a personal vote against me. It was more of a comment on the arrogance of the party at national level with senior politicians not listening to what the people at grassroots level were telling them,” he added.
Cllr O'Connor said he will take stock of his situation before decided what direction to take in the future.
“Before going into politics I was a community activist. Over the past two decades I have gained a lot experience that I believe can be put to good use in a similar role. I will also have to assess if it is possible to remain in the committee of the Cork Educational Training Board,” he said.
“Would I run for office again in the future if the timing was right for me? Never say never,” he concluded. AT THE fifth count on Saturday night there was a bellow from the middle of the hall as Fianna Fail's Dan Joe Fitzgerald was catapulted into the air.
The veteran councillor bagged 2,271 first preference votes and he nabbed a precious seat on the fifth count. “I'm delighted. It was worth the long wait,” he said in the aftermath. “I was quietly confident and I want to thank everyone who voted for me.”
He said that he is looking forward to the task ahead and he said that it's great for the party to scoop two Fianna Fail seats. He said it was unfortunate that his running mate, Cllr Bart Donegan (FF) didn't make the grade.
He also said that Noel O'Connor (FG) and Ronan Sheehan (Lab) who both lost their seats, had both worked very hard in their regions.
When asked what the experience of dipping his toes into the stretched boundary of Duhallow this time around, he said all of his ancestors hailed from the region. “I got a great welcome in Duhallow,” he said.
He said austerity, the financial pressures people are under, water charges, ambulance cover and the condition of roads were all issues he met at the doors.
When asked if he would go for a tipple as it was 11.45pm, he quickly looked at his watch, and said there was still time for a celebratory pint, “or whatever time permits.”