EDITORIAL: Looking back on a year of elections in Mayo

IT is now just over a month since the general election took place and the serious talks about the formation of the next government are likely to begin in earnest over the next fortnight.
Since the election, it has become clear that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will be back in power with the support of a group of Independent. The dividing up of the portfolios to form the new front-bench cabinet will be very interesting.
It certainly was a very busy year for all of us here in The Mayo News. The local and European elections took place back on June 7. There is always huge interest across the county in the local election, with 30 seats up for grabs on Mayo County Council. Overall, there were not too many shocks but the performance of Independent Ireland candidate Chris Maxwell took most by surprise, as he topped the poll in the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District.
There was a marathon count in the Castlebar Municipal District where it was after 8am in the morning before the seven seats were filled, with Independent Harry Barrett being the only new face to be elected.

History makers
There was history too on the double in the Claremorris Municipal District where Paul Lawless became the first ever Aontu candidate to be elected as a councillor in Mayo and Alma Gallagher of Fine Gael became the first ever female to be elected in the region. There was plenty of drama too in the Swinford Electoral Area where five votes separated the final three candidates in the field. In the end, it was heartbreak for Sinn Féin’s John Sheahan, who lost out to Neil Cruise of Fine Gael by just a single vote.
The European election is harder to get the electorate engaged with, especially with Mayo being part of the sprawling Midlands-North-West constituency. In the end, it was no surprise to see Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan again topping the poll, followed by Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowan, but Fine Gael did an impressive job in getting Nina Carberry and Mayo’s own Maria Walsh elected. Many felt that Walsh was in danger of losing her seat, but she took the fourth seat comfortably. The final seat, somewhat surprisingly, went to former RTÉ reporter and Independent Ireland candidate Ciaran Mullooly.
News broke in August that veteran Fine Gael TD Michael Ring would not be seeking re-election, and that led to a fascinating run-in to the general election, which Taoiseach Simon Harris eventually declared would take place on November 29.
The absence of Ring meant Mayo was one of the most difficult constituencies to predict, and it didn’t disappoint. Very few would have predicted the five TDs who were given a mandate by the people of the county.

Big surprise
Most felt that sitting TDs Rose Conway-Walsh, Alan Dillon and Dara Calleary would hold onto their seats, and that proved to be the case, with Conway-Walsh making history on the double by being the first woman to top the poll and also the first woman in history to be the first declared elected.
The big surprises came late in the day when first time Fine Gael candidate Keira Keogh and Aontu’s Paul Lawless took the final two seats.
Keogh had failed to win a seat on Mayo County Council during the local election, but with the backing of Michael Ring she went on to take a seat in the Dáil and again cement Fine Gael’s position as the dominant party here in Mayo.
Paul Lawless had won a seat in the local elections, as previously mentioned, but few gave the 32-year-old Knock teacher a chance of taking a seat in Dáil. But he made history by taking a first seat ever for Aontú in Mayo, mainly due to the fact that he was the most transfer-friendly candidate in the huge field of 16 candidates.
Lawless certainly turned out to be one of the main headline makers in Mayo in 2024, and his election, alongside another strong performance from Conway-Walsh, proved beyond doubt that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s dominance of the constituency now looks to be at an end.
It certainly was an eventful year on the political front here in Mayo. The hope now is that the county will at least get a senior ministry (Dara Calleary) and a junior ministry (Alan Dillon) when the new cabinet is announced early in the New Year.
Finally, as this is the final edition of The Mayo News for 2024, I as Editor, on behalf of our staff, would like to thank all our readers and advertisers for their support during the past 12 months and wish everyone a very happy new year.