Kilcoyne undecided on General Election

Ciara Galvin

CASTLEBAR councillor Michael Kilcoyne has not yet decided whether he’ll run in this year’s General Election.
The Independent councillor, who topped the poll in the 2014 local elections with 2,921 votes, told The Mayo News yesterday (Monday) that he was ‘under a lot of pressure’ to put his name forward. However, he said that he is mindful of the fact that people need an ‘active councillor’, and he believes that becoming a TD would not allow for this.
“I got the highest number of votes in the 2014 election, so it’s obvious that people want me to be their councillor – but I can’t be a councillor and a TD,” he said, adding that he would make his decision ‘shortly’.
Asked about his thoughts on the upcoming election, Cllr Kilcoyne said people in the Castlebar Municipal District were ‘disappointed’ with the Government and An Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
“I accept he [Kenny] cannot appoint foreign direct investment to Castlebar, but he was in a position to direct offices to Castlebar when Irish Water was being set up. I accept he is a busy man, but I would expect his office to be looking after things like this,” said Kilcoyne.
Cllr Kilcoyne went on to say that Fine Gael and Fianna FΡil should amalgamate, as they ‘couldn’t be any closer’.
Meanwhile, former Independent TD Dr Jerry Cowley has also yet to rule himself out of the race.
The Mulranny-based GP, who was a TD from 2002 to 2007, said that if he decided to run he would have no concern about his vote in the Castlebar Municipal District. He said a lot of people had encouraged him to run in the election, but that he would have to speak with supporters before making a decision.
Independent councillor Seamus Weir has also indicated that he is considering contesting the election.
Meanwhile, 1st Independent Mayo announced their Mayo candidates in Ballina last week:  George O’Malley and Ballina’s Peter Jordan. See more on their launch on Page 15.