Pressure on Sinn Fein to deliver in massive county town battle

Castlebar Electoral Area                                                                                                       

Seats: 7

Candidates (19): Harry Barrett (Ind); Aidan Browne (SD); Cyril Burke (FG); Joe Daly (PBP); Ger Deere (FG); Blackie Gavin (FF); Donal Geraghty (II); Donna Hyland (SF); Kamal Uddin (LAB); Stephen Kerr (IND); Michael Kilcoyne (IND); Brendan Lavelle (IND); Gerry Loftus (IND); Al McDonnell (FF); Martin McLoughlin (FF); Tom Moran (IP); Maura O'Sullivan (SF); Maksym Shalomon (IND); Donna Sheridan (FG)

BACK in 2019 when previewing the Castlebar Electoral Area, our headline read 'Large field to make lottery of Castlebar'. The field in that local election had 17 candidates and remarkably this time around, that has been topped and 19 candidates now go to post in the county town.

It was 3.58am on Sunday morning when Returning Officer John Condon finally got around to informing the locals that it was Fine Gael and Fianna Fail who were to fill the last seats through Donna Sheridan and Martin McLaughlin respectively, with Independent and former Labour councillor Harry Barrett just missing out by just 93 votes after a marathon thirteenth count.
More of the same can be expected again in the county town this time around.

All seven sitting councillors are seeking re-election and the reality is for first time candidates that some of the longest sitting councillors in the country are going to be very hard to unseat.

Michael Kilcoyne topped the poll in 2019 by garnering a whopping 2,592 votes and there is no reason to believe he will not put in a similar performance on June 7. He got close to the 3,000 mark in 2014 and he may well even break it this time if anti-Government apathy is as big a factor in this election as anticipated.

Veteran Fianna Fail councillor Blackie Gavin surprisingly came out and said recently that he certainly was feeling that anti-Government sentiment on the doorsteps during his canvass. He said voters were simply 'fed-up' of both his party and Fine Gael, but Gavin seemed to be somewhat playing to the gallery and is a strong favourite to retain his seat.

His other long-time colleague Al McDonnell had to wait until the eight count to be elected in 2014. He is one of the longest serving councillors in the country with 36 years experience and while he again might have to patient, he should retain his seat.
Of the other four sitting councillors, Ger Deere looks the most likely the retain his seat having much of the town centre population to rely on.

So that would leave the race down to three seats, with the sitting councillors, Cyril Burke, Martin McLoughlin and Donna Sheridan, faces challengers from all sides and all walks of life.

All three had to waiting for the final thirteenth count to be elected in 2019, and a similiar scenario could befall them in the early hours of June 9.

Pressure on Sinn Fein
Sinn Fein's Donna Hyland would seem to be their biggest danger. Joe McHale was eliminated on 888 votes (he got 602 first preference) in 2019 but Hyland is definitely more of a fit for the new Sinn Fein regime and if she can get over 1,000 first preference, she is going to be huge factor in the race. Maura O'Sullivan also runs for Sinn Fein from her base in Islandeady and a strong transfer from her to Hyland could be the key to success.

Harry Barrett again looks the strongest of the many independents, having run another high profile campaign, but he has to increase his first preference from last time to be in with a shout.

Joe Daly (People Before Profit) and Donal Geraghty (Independent Ireland) are both very capable operators who may quietly fancy themselves of staying in the race longer than anticipated, while Independents Stephen Kerr and Gerry Loftus are others who have kept a high-profile in the media in recent months and will be hoping to get a kick from that. There are five other candidates who didn't get a mention here but all who put their name on the ballot paper deserve commendation.

Overall, the performance of Donna Hyland could be the real litmus test to see if Sinn Fein can make a real impression in these local elections. She chosen to take the fifth seat, and in an almighty battle for the last two seats, Fine Gael's Cyril Burke and Donna Sheridan are given hesistant nods.

Verdict: Michael Kilcoyne (IND); Blackie Gavin (FF); Ger Deere (FG); Al McDonnell (FF); Donna Hyland (SF); Cyril Burke (FG); Donna Sheridan (FG).