VOTERS BELIEVE ‘IT’S HIGH TIME FOR CHANGE’
EMOTIONS WERE running high at the Mallow Count Centre on Saturday, not only among the candidates but also in the large crowd from all over North Cork who were anxiously awaiting results.
The popular and charismatic John Paul O’Shea, who romped home comfortably in the first count, was surrounded by well wishers throughout the day, and is obviously well liked by people from across the political spectrum who were genuinely happy to be there to witness his runaway success.
The predominant feeling expressed on the ground was that it was “high time for change”, with some people saying they voted for Independents not because of who they were but who they were not (members of one of the established parties). Others, however, were wary of putting their faith in the untested and untried - i.e. Sinn Féin and Independents, thereby remaining faithful to the old reliables.
On Monday, The Corkman spoke to people from around the Duhallow area regarding the “fall out” following the significant reshuffle of power generated by the election results.
Several people from the Western Duhallow area were genuinely thrilled that Gerard Murphy, Timmie Collins, and newcomer Bernard Moynihan were all elected, but more were sorry to see Noel Buckley and Noel O’Connor go who, they said, did “outstanding” work for the community during their years in office.
Joanne Herlihy from Churchtown was glad to see that Labour “got what they deserved”.
“They have they have not delivered on their pre election promises, and I feel myself that it’s large families like ours that take the brunt of the cuts,” Joanne said.
“We have six children, one with autism, and I was very happy to see Sinn Féin get the votes because I feel that they will change things for the better for hard working families like ourselves” Joanne said.
Meanwhile, in Newmarket Mary Stack told The Corkman she was really glad that locals Gerard Murphy and Timmie Collins were still in situ.
“I think it’s very important that every area has its own representatives. I feel very sorry for a lot of good people who lost their seats because of the backlash to the government, they lost out locally because of what is happening nationally”, Mary said.
Maureen Martin from Kanturk was glad that some sort of continuity was upheld in the Kanturk Mallow electorate area. “I would not be very happy with a lot of the results, but it's nice to see that we've managed to maintain some sort of continuity in North West Cork with Gerard Murphy, Timmie Collins, and now Bernard Moynihan. That's quite reassuring and we hope they will work hard for all of us”, Maureen commented.
Meanwhile, Corney Vaughan, Boherbue, commenting on the post election situation blamed the austerity measures the Government has implemented for the seismic shift towards other parties and Independents. “The shift away from the government parties was inevitable due to the eroding of people's incomes, especially those on fixed incomes such as pensioners, the unemployed and the disabled. The withdrawal of medical cards is also a major cause of stress and concern among the people who are affected and the recent introduction,” Corney said.
Karen O’Keeffe from Banteer, who voted for poll topper John Paul O’Shea remarked that it was “A great result for John Paul O’Shea - nice to see a young, truly independant candidate topping the poll”.