Hyland falls victim to Maxwell’s Louisburgh surge in Westport

Five years ago at the end of the seventh count, Chris Maxwell cut a forlorn figure as he was the last man standing with just 68 votes separating him from a seat on the council.

His elimination meant Louisburgh would go without a councillor for another five years but residents along the south of Clew Bay were not going to let it happen again. It was clear when the Louisburgh boxes opened that Maxwell was hoovering up the vote in the west of the constituency.

The tallies showed he received 75 percent of first preferences in the Killeen NS and 76 percent out of the two Louisburgh NS boxes. With 1,000 votes out of the three Louisburgh boxes it was clear that the Independent Ireland candidate was well on his way to securing a seat.

With Maxwell on his way to victory, it meant that at least one sitting councillor would be losing out and the question was who would that be.

The opening of the Westport town boxes showed that Peter Flynn was performing very well as was his party colleague Keira Keogh. The decision by Fine Gael to run two town-based candidates was seen as a risky strategy but early on in the tally it looked like Keogh may be in the running for a second Fine Gael seat.

With Flynn and Keogh running well in the town, it was bad news for sitting Independent councillor Christy Hyland who was not picking up the high number which he was getting five years ago. Going by tally figures, Keogh was outpolled by Hyland in five of the seven Scoil Phadraig boxes in Westport and in Keogh's home boxes in the Quay NS she outpolled him by almost two to one.

Elsewhere Fianna Fáil’s only candidate Brendan Mulroy was also feeling the pinch from Maxwell with the party faithful in Louisburgh clearly piling in behind Maxwell. His vote was solid if not spectacular in the Westport town boxes and he was also under pressure in the boxes around Newport from sitting Independent councillor John O’Malley.

While nine candidates were in the race, it was clear that the votes were only going to six of them with Sinn Féin candidate Karen Gallagher and Peter Nolan of the Green Party and Niall McCormack of Irish Freedom Party not featuring.

_{Cllr Peter Flynn pictured with family members after he was returned to Mayo County Council (Pic: Conor McKeown)}

Two certainties

The results of the first count showed that Maxwell and Flynn were the two certainties to win a seat with Maxwell topping the poll with 1,793 first preferences just 72 short of the quota while Flynn received 1,559.

It was a lot tighter between the four next candidates with just 166 votes separating O'Malley in third place with 1,350 and Keogh in sixth with 1,184. In between Mulroy managed to put a gap of 107 votes between himself and Christy Hyland.

While small on paper the gap of 107 was significant given the low number of candidates in the field and the lack of transfer activity to bridge the gap.

Returning officer John Condon reduced the field to six after the first county with the elimination of Gallagher, Nolan and McCormack in one go and their total vote of 885 was distributed.

Maxwell was the biggest beneficiary of these votes picking up 146 to put him over the line and elect him to Mayo County Council for the first time in the second count.

John O’Malley put further daylight between himself and the chasing pack with 145 transfers, while Flynn picked up 135 votes, 122 for Hyland, 98 for Keogh and Mulroy picked up 82.

Gallant effort

With Maxwell exceeding the quota, there was a reprieve for Keogh when his surplus of 74 was distributed but it was clear that her gallant effort to be elected would fall short.

So it proved after the third count when she was eliminated and the next question would be where would the transfers from her 1,219 votes go.

For Hyland to have any chance of bridging the gap to Mulroy he would hope that his former association with Fine Gael would benefit him over his Fianna Fáil counterpart.

As it turned out, he only received 225 of Keogh’s transfers, just eight more than Mulroy and he now needed miracles to keep a hold of his seat.

Flynn received 556 votes to see him elected on the fourth count, putting him 391 votes over the quota. Mulroy closed the gap on O’Malley to 78 votes after Keogh's transfers but with the Carrowholly-based Independent on 1,715, he knew his seat was safe.

After an anxious few hours, Mulroy’s supporters were now able to relax and pose for photographs knowing they had done just about enough.

The outcome was confirmed when he received 155 of Flynn's surplus, one more than Hyland but could not catch O’Malley into third place who finished five votes ahead.

With Hyland now eliminated, O’Malley and Mulroy were returned to Mayo County Council without reaching the quota.