Noel McCarthy tops the poll for second time in Fermoy
FF TAKE THREE SEATS BUT SHOCK IN STORE AS M/TOWN’S MURPHY LOSES OUT
ACCORDING to many people’s pre-election predictions for the Fermoy Electoral Area there would not be too many surprises in store come last Saturday, with the five incumbents all tipped to retain their seats.
In fact, the main debate prior to last Friday’s vote was what order they might be elected in and, in the absence of Charleville based Cllr Ian Doyle who was running in the Kanturk area following the boundary shake-up, who would fill the final sixth seat.
While the initial tallies seemed to bear out many of the predictions, there was one surprise on the cards, with sitting Social Democrat county councillor June Murphy trailing and in danger of losing the seat she won under the Sinn Fein banner in 2014.
In fact, Cllr Murphy took to social media shortly afterwards saying “its not looking good at all folks” adding a poignant message to her supporters “I’m sorry to have let you down.”
The tally showed that Cllr Noel McCarthy, who in 2014 topped the Fermoy poll under the Labour Party banner with 3,400 first preference votes, was by some distance ahead of his closest rival Fianna Fail’s Cllr Frank O’Flynn, with both set to meet the quota and be elected on the first count.
As it transpired Cllr O’Flynn’s party colleagues, sitting councillor Deirdre O’Brien the brother of Cork East Kevin O’Keeffe and newcomer William O’Leary from Rathcormac who had served as a parliamentary to Deputy O’Keeffe, also polled well meeting the quota and also being elected to the authority on the first count with 2,225 and 2,212 first preference votes respectively.
With Fine Gael’s Cllr Kay Dawson receiving 1,527 votes there was few who doubted that Cllr McCarthy’s surplus would help her over the line and she was duly regained her Council seat on the third count.
With Independent candidate Frank Roche from Castletownroche polling 899 first preference votes, Cllr Murphy 676, Helen White of Sinn Fein 617 and Labour’s David Kenneally 531 the distribution of surplus votes continued.
However, Cllr Murphy’s earlier prediction after the tally count proved to be correct, with Mr Roche finally deemed elected after the eighth count.
Speaking to The Corkman a jubilant Cllr McCarthy spoke of his pride at having topped the Fermoy area poll for the second time in succession.
“You always hope to get a good vote, but to top the poll with a surplus of more than 1,110 votes was a wonderful bonus,” said Cllr McCarthy.
He said the fact that he topped the poll on two occasions under different party banners showed that it was a local election about local issues. “Party politics was set aside and people voted recognised my record of working on behalf of the people over the past five years. I looked for their support on the strength of that and was delighted to receive it,” said Cllr McCarthy.
“I look forward to continuing working on their behalf for the next five years and addressing pressing local issues such as housing, roads infrastructure and continuing my work with Tidy Towns,” he added.
Cllr Frank O’Flynn was also delighted at regaining his seat once again, saying he put it down to the hard work her has done over the years as a councillor.
“I meet people in hurling and football training and ask them the question ‘what’s the fastest way to Croke Park?’ I tell them the best way is to practice, practice and practice,” said Cllr O’Flynn.
“The way to get returned to Cork County Council again and again, election after election, is hard work,” he added.
His party colleague William O’Leary said he felt his election victory was not just a personal triumph but also a huge boost for Fianna Fail in the north Cork area.
“After all the hard work I was delighted to win a seat on the Council and was pleasantly surprised at the number of first preference votes I received and to be elected on the first count. While I am a first time councillor, the experience I gained while working alongside Deputy O’Keeffe means that I am aware of what is required of me and I am looking forward bringing that experience to the table while representing the people of the Fermoy area,” said Mr O’Leary.
“We always knew that taking three seats for Fianna Fail would be a difficult task, but I think that by us taking almost 50% of the votes in Fermoy it has shown that people in this neck of the woods feel they have been left behind and want strong representation on the Council,” he added.