Lucey bags sixth seat in Macroom

IN the heel of the hunt, all that separated FG hopeful Aine Collins and sitting Councillor Ted Lucey were 150 votes for the final, sixth seat in Macroom at a marathon count.

On Sunday evening, at the eleventh count, the nod went to Cllr Ted Lucey, who got a final vote of 1,855.

When the boxes finally arrived to County Hall at 5pm on Saturday evening, the tallymen had completed their number-crunching, with one telling that, with transfers, it would mean that Cllr Lucey would edge ahead by “about 145 to 150 votes.” Those numbers came to pass just after 6pm on Sunday. The tally figures put Aine Collins at 1,339 and Ted Lucey at 1,471 – and at nearly 11pm, the tallymen were almost bang on the buck: Aine Collins 1,338, and Ted Lucey receiving 1,452.

As the day edged onwards into the early hours of Sunday morning and counting resumed again at 10am that morning, the transfers, as predicted, just did not go Aine Collins way.

With Cllr Michael Creed (FG) catapulted to the top of the first count and vastly exceeding the quota, his surplus of 480 mostly fell into the arms of Ted Lucey and first-time runner Eileen Lynch.

Despite Cllr Lucey getting over the line, he readily admitted that he was “always under pressure” with the boundary re-shuffling as he lost a quarter of his region and areas such as Crossbarry, Templemartin, Enniskeane, Brinny, Newestown and Knockavilla.

Considering those regions were gobbled up, it meant he really had to put his shoulder to the wheel.

“I am delighted that I got back in, and I did work hard for the last five years, and it is that which brought me back,” said Mr Lucey.

When asked what the main issues on the doorstepwere, he said that broadband was, but not its cost.

“The problem was that people just didn’t have it, and a neighbour down the road, maybe 100 yards away, did have it. That is something that will have to be addressed,” he said.

While FG sought to bring four over the line, Mr Lucey said that it was a “massive day in Macroom to get three over the line.”

“The vote itself for Fine Gael in the region is just massive if you look at all the four candidate’s votes. I think that the vote also shows the work which Minister Michael Creed is also doing, and that is another reason why our vote was so good.”

“We are all happy that we got in, and we all worked hard, and working hard is what got us there in the end,” he told