Low key affair at Mallow centre
THE thrills, spills, cheers and tears of past local election counts were clearly missed at Mallow Youth Centre last Saturday as candidates from three electoral areas went into battle to secure Cork County Council seats for the next five years.
The areas of Mallow, Kanturk and Fermoy were decided on at the centre. Earlier in the day the boxes were opened and the three papers were separated at Carigoon before being brought to the centre at 3pm in wheeled containers.
This time out the Carrigoon tally people were bang on with just a couple of votes between their figures and the first count results.
The first count commenced at 3.30pm. The atmosphere was dull in comparison to the tension and excitement experienced in other years at counts. The reason for this being the Mallow overall position in regard to the tally proved it to be a foregone conclusion with the winners and losers very evident from the beginning.
The only piece of excitement came in the form of Young Offenders actor Chris Walley who was present at the count supporting a candidate from the Fermoy area.
The first count was announced at 7pm with the election of Mallow business man and President of Mallow Chamber Pat Hayes of Fianna Fáil topping the poll followed by party colleague Gearoid Murphy and James Kennedy of Labour taking third position with a solitary one vote behind Murphy.
The normal painstaking procedure of the distribution of surplus votes continued into late evening but from the outset this did not change the outlook of the final result. Eventually former Dairygold shift manager Liam Madden of Fine Gael took the fourth seat followed by party colleague Tony O’Shea.
The outgoing Sinn Féin Councillor Melissa Mullane admitted it was a bad day but she said she was not emotional or upset but happy she was able to assist many people with various issues over the years and will continue to do so. She said she would be back in the running next time out.
Cian Moriarty of Fine Gael admitted he had an uphill battle from the start as a newcomer to Mallow but said he had now a base to build on for the future. He also wished Melissa Mullane the best for the future.