1977 revisited

1977 revisited

West Mayo
Enda Kenny FG
Denis Gallagher FF
Padraig Flynn FF
East Mayo
Sean Calleary FF
PJ Morley FF
Paddy O’Toole FG

THE 1977 General Election was perhaps the most revolutionary in the history of the State with Fianna Fáil gaining a landslide victory which no one saw coming.
Nationwide, the party won an unprecedented 84 seats and one of their significant gains came right here in West Mayo when a Castlebar national school teacher called Padraig Flynn secured a Dáil seat at his first attempt.
Westport’s Myles Staunton had caused a surprise in 1973 when he took the seat of the longstanding FF Minister Micheal Ó Moráin but the pragmatic Staunton was magnanimous in defeat.
“I accept my defeat. That’s what democracy is all about. In 1973 I helped produce a shock result. Today the same thing happens and I go,” stated Staunton in the Pavillon Ballroom in Westport.
Flynn had running partner Tim Quinn to thank for his election, with the Belmullet man polling a superb 3,304 first preference, taking large chunks of vote from Staunton in the Erris area. Fine Gael’s decision not to run a third candidate proved fatal.
Padraig Flynn, who was also proprietor of the Sunflower Lounge in Castlebar at the time of the election, arrived for his first day in Dáil Éireann in a white suit and black shirt. Among the other first-time TDs were Bertie Ahern and Liam Lawlor.
There was also a shock in East Mayo when the illustrious 26-year Dáil career of Sean Flanagan came to an end. The writing was on the wall for Flanagan after the first count where he polled just 3,722 votes, less than half of the total of poll-topper Sean Calleary and he was eliminated after the second count.
Calleary transfers elected PJ Morley for the first time, a seat he would hold for 20 years. There was yet another surprise in East Mayo where Paddy O’Toole was one of only a handful of new Fine Gael TDs returned to the 21st Dáil. He defeated party colleague and sitting TD Martin Finn by just 63 votes on the final count. MD