Cllr Peter Savage
Cllr Peter Savage was this morning elected the new chairperson of Louth County Council.
The Fianna Fáil representative succeeds Cllr Oliver Tully in the position after seeing off a challenge from Sinn Féin’s Imelda Munster by 18 votes to 10.
This will be the Greenore man’s seventh spell as chairman having previously served in the role in 2010/11, 2005/06, 1999/2000, 1992/93, 1988/89 and 1985/86.
Ardee woman Cllr Dolores Minogue of Fine Gael was elected the new vice-chair.
Imelda Munster will be Gerry Adams’ running mate for the next General Election – the first time Sinn Féin have put two candidates forward for election in this constituency
Sinn Féin will officially be aiming for two seats in this constituency in the next General Election.
As anticipated, the party have put two candidates forward for the first time in the Louth East Meath constituency with Drogheda-based Louth County Councillor Imelda Munster chosen as the running mate for party president and sitting TD Gerry Adams at last night’s convention in the Westcourt Hotel in Drogheda.
In a statement, a party spokesperson said: “The local government election and European results of last year show a Sinn Féin party building in political strength across the island. The constituency of Louth and East Meath has seen a particular rise in the Sinn Féin vote and following discussion within the party it was agreed that there should be two candidates going forward.
“The next general election will see a clear choice between the austerity and conservative politics of Fine Gael and Labour, or a socially progressive Sinn Féin-led government.
“Sinn Féin plans to grow our economy out of recession; create real jobs with proper terms and conditions; a decent health service accessible to all; deliver first class public services, including for those living in rural Ireland; work to bring back our immigrant children, and build a United Ireland of equals.”
Sinn Féin are the first of the party to declare their candidates for the next General Election in this constituency. Fianna Fáil’s Seamus Kirk has already declared, however, that he will be retiring at the next election – which will take place within the next 12 months.
Adrian Kavanagh’s prediction of where the five seats in Louth will go at the next General Election
Labour and Fine Gael could be set to lose seats in the next General Election in Louth.
That’s the view of the country’s leading constituency analyst Adrian Kavanagh, who has been making predictions about what might happen in the next election – scheduled to take place sometime in the next 15 months.
Writing in The Irish Independent, Mr Kavanagh said that Fianna Fáil were “well placed” to retain the seat that is currently held by Seamus Kirk. The former Ceann Comhairle will retire from politics when the current Dáil’s term ends with Kavanagh predicting that one of Declan Breathnach, Liam Reilly or Anthony Moore could gain.
He feels Ged Nash’s Labour seat is “highly vulnerable” and predicted that Fine Gael “could also lose one of their seats” with both Fergus O’Dowd and Peter Fitzpatrick at risk.
He expects Sinn Féin to claim a second seat with Imelda Munster and Tomás Sharkey predicted to be strong running mates for party leader, Gerry Adams.
While he feels Sinn Fein could go close to taking three seats, he feels the third will go to an independent candidate with Maeve Anna Yore and Mark Dearey of the Green Party predicted as potential beneficiaries.
While Gerry Adams topped the poll in Louth in 2011 he was the biggest loser in the first opinion poll of 2015 yesterday.
The Red C survey found that his personal support had fallen by 7% to 27% – making him the most unpopular leader in the country.
Cllr Declan Breathnach is expected to be in the shake up when Fianna Fáil decide a General Election candidate for Louth
With speculation increasing that there may be a General Election early in the New Year, both Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin are expected to start selecting their election candidates in the coming weeks.
Fianna Fáil are expected to hold a number of selection conventions as soon as next week with the south west and Dublin starting off the process.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has maintained that the government will go to full term and the election will not take place until spring 2016, but opposition parties believe an autumn 2015 vote is now likely with Fianna Fáil anxious to have all their candidates in place by May at the latest.
Sinn Féin are also expected to work to a similar timetable.
In terms of this year, Gerry Adams is expected to run again for Sinn Féin and is likely to be joined by a running mate in the south of the county with Cllr Imelda Munster the likely frontrunner. This will be a historic moment for the party as it will be the first time they have ran with two General Election candidates in Co Louth.
With Seamus Kirk retiring from politics at the next election, there is a potential Fianna Fáil seat up for grabs. Cllr Declan Breathnach, who ran unsuccessfully in the February 2011 election, is expected to be in the running once again with at least one more candidate expected to compete in the south of the county.
The offices of Louth County Council
Louth County Council will this morning vote on whether or not to cut the rate of property tax by 15%.
The motion from Sinn Féin’s Imelda Munster, which will be dealt with at this morning’s monthly meeting, could see the Local Property Tax rate reduced by the maximum amount allowed.
Councillors were warned at the July meeting that a funding gap of €1.4m would arise were the cut to be made, which would have an impact on local services. However, Cllr Munster told LMFM radio that she is confident that the extra funding needed would be found.
The offices of Louth County Council
The first meeting of the new Louth County Council will take place later today.
This will be the first gathering of the local authority since the recent local elections and the abolition of the town and borough councils.
At the meeting the first chairperson of the new look council is expected to be decided.
The new council is made up of the following:
Dundalk South (7) – Tomás Sharkey (Sinn Féin), Declan Breathnach (Fianna Fáil), Maeve Anna Yore (Independent), Kevin Meenan (Sinn Féin), Jennifer Green (Sinn Féin), Maria Doyle (Fine Gael), Marianne Butler (Green Party).
Dundalk Carlingford (6) – Edel Corrigan (Sinn Féin), Peter Savage (Fianna Fáil), Jim Loughran (Sinn Féin), John McGahon (Fine Gael), Mark Dearey (Green Party), Conor Keelan (Fianna Fáil).
Ardee (6) – Pearse McGeough (Sinn Féin), Colm Markey (Fine Gael), Liam Reilly (Fianna Fáil), Tom Cunningham (Sinn Féin), Dolores Minogue (Fine Gael), Jim Tenanty (Independent).
Drogheda (10) – Imelda Munster (Sinn Féin), Paul Bell (Labour Party), Alan Cassidy (Sinn Féin), Tommy Byrne (Fianna Fáil), Kenneth Flood (Sinn Féin), Frank Godfrey (Independent), Kevin Callan (Fine Gael), Oliver Tully (Fine Gael), Richie Culhane (Fine Gael), Pio Martin Smith (Labour Party).
Some of the victorious Sinn Féin local election team at the count centre on Saturday with party leader and local TD Gerry Adams. If last Friday’s poll results repeated themselves in a General Election, Sinn Féin would take two seats in the constituency
Fine Gael and the Labour Party would both have lost seats in Louth had the results from last week’s local elections been in a General Election.
Sinn Féin, meanwhile, would have been the big winners by claiming two seats.
Today’s Irish Times carried out an analysis of the local election results and put them into the context of a General Election. The work was carried out by political analyst Odran Flynn.
Mr Flynn said: “Yes it was a local election and the General Election wil be contested by a vastly different array of candidates, including ministers and TDs from all parties. However, as was the case in 1991 and 2009, the warning signs were apparent and they effectively predicted the result of the following Dáil election.”
The Times found that had the results from last Friday’s poll been in a General Election then just six Labour candidates would have been re-elected.
In Louth just one Fine Gael candidate would have survived, while Fianna Fáil would retain its solitary seat in the county.
Labour would have lost their representation here with Sinn Féin picking up their seat, while the remaining fifth seat would have went to someone in the ‘Other’ category – most likely an independent.
While all hypothetical, the results are interesting and will no doubt strengthen Sinn Féin’s resolve to run a second candidate in Louth for the first time at the next election.
Drogheda-based councillor Imelda Munster – who topped the poll in her area – has already been mentioned as a possible running mate for Gerry Adams in the next General Election.
Incidentally, the break down of the next Dáil would have been as follows if they reflected the local election results:
Jim Tenanty
Jim Tenanty held off the challenge of fellow independent Hugh Conlon to take the last seat on the new Louth County Council following yesterday evening’s recount at the Redeemer in Dundalk.
Just 23 votes had separated the pair in the Ardee electoral area on Sunday night, leading to Conlon calling for a recount.
However, it failed to change the outcome, with Tenanty holding on to take his seat on the new local authority.
That leaves things as follows:
The party breakdown reads as
Meanwhile, the new council is made up of the following:
Dundalk South (7) – Tomás Sharkey (Sinn Féin), Declan Breathnach (Fianna Fáil), Maeve Anna Yore (Independent), Kevin Meenan (Sinn Féin), Jennifer Green (Sinn Féin), Maria Doyle (Fine Gael), Marianne Butler (Green Party).
Dundalk Carlingford (6) – Edel Corrigan (Sinn Féin), Peter Savage (Fianna Fáil), Jim Loughran (Sinn Féin), John McGahon (Fine Gael), Mark Dearey (Green Party), Conor Keelan (Fianna Fáil).
Ardee (6) – Pearse McGeough (Sinn Féin), Colm Markey (Fine Gael), Liam Reilly (Fianna Fáil), Tom Cunningham (Sinn Féin), Dolores Minogue (Fine Gael), Jim Tenanty (Independent).
Drogheda (10) – Imelda Munster (Sinn Féin), Paul Bell (Labour Party), Alan Cassidy (Sinn Féin), Tommy Byrne (Fianna Fáil), Kenneth Flood (Sinn Féin), Frank Godfrey (Independent), Kevin Callan (Fine Gael), Oliver Tully (Fine Gael), Richie Culhane (Fine Gael), Pio Martin Smith (Labour Party).
Some of the victorious Sinn Féin team at the count centre on Saturday with party leader and local TD Gerry Adams. From left: Edel Corrigan, Pearse McGeough, Gerry Adams, Imelda Munster, Tomás Sharkey, Jennifer Green, Tom Cunningham and Alan Cassidy
Conor Keelan won the final seat in Dundalk Carlingford by just four votes from JJ Quigley
There was drama at the local election count in the Redeemer last night after a recount was ordered to decide who took the last seat available in the Dundalk-Carlingford constituency.
In the end history repeated itself as Fianna Fáil’s Conor Keelan saw off competition from Sinn Féin’s JJ Quigley to take the final seat by just four votes – the same margin that independent councillor Alan Grehan pipped Fianna Fáil’s Donal Lynch by following a similar recount five years ago.
Initially there had been just two votes separating the pair before the recount but it failed to change the outcome.
The failure of Quigley to get elected was the one downside to what was an otherwise fantastic weekend for Sinn Féin, who saw 10 of their 11 candidates elected, with poll toppers in each of the four electoral areas.
As is always the case in elections, there were casualties with established councillors such as Eamonn O’Boyle, Jim Ryan, Jim Lennon, Finnan McCoy, Martin Murnaghan, Linus English, Michael O’Dowd, Sean Bellew and Oliver Morgan all losing seats.
For the first time there is the possibility also of a husband and wife team on the council with Sinn Féin’s Jennifer Green elected in Dundalk South, while her fiancé Alan Cassidy was elected in Drogheda.
Sinn Féin aside, the big winners included independent Maeve Anna Yore and Fine Gael’s John McGahon and Maria Doyle, who secured seats on their debut elections.
It was also a good weekend for the Green Party, with both Mark Dearey and Marianne Butler retaining their status.
The only remaining seat still to be decided is in Ardee, where a recount will take place this morning at 10am at the request of Hugh Conlon, who lost out on the final seat to fellow independent Jim Tenanty by just 23 votes.
The party breakdown look as follows:
There will also be a record number of women representatives, with seven female councillors elected.
As things stand the new County Council will look as follows:
Dundalk South (7) – Tomás Sharkey (Sinn Féin), Declan Breathnach (Fianna Fáil), Maeve Anna Yore (Independent), Kevin Meenan (Sinn Féin), Jennifer Green (Sinn Féin), Maria Doyle (Fine Gael), Marianne Butler (Green Party).
Dundalk Carlingford (6) – Edel Corrigan (Sinn Féin), Peter Savage (Fianna Fáil), Jim Loughran (Sinn Féin), John McGahon (Fine Gael), Mark Dearey (Green Party), Conor Keelan (Fianna Fáil).
Ardee (6) – Pearse McGeough (Sinn Féin), Colm Markey (Fine Gael), Liam Reilly (Fianna Fáil), Tom Cunningham (Sinn Féin), Dolores Minogue (Fine Gael), Jim Tenanty/Hugh D Conlon (Independent).
Drogheda (10) – Imelda Munster (Sinn Féin), Paul Bell (Labour Party), Alan Cassidy (Sinn Féin), Tommy Byrne (Fianna Fáil), Kenneth Flood (Sinn Féin), Frank Godfrey (Independent), Kevin Callan (Fine Gael), Oliver Tully (Fine Gael), Richie Culhane (Fine Gael), Pio Martin Smith (Labour Party).
Full results for each electoral area are also available on the Louth County Council website – Dundalk Carlingford, Dundalk South, Ardee, Drogheda.
The Louth Sinn Féin team pictured at last night’s local election campaign launch in The Fairways Hotel. Back row from left: JJ Quigley, Cllr Pearse McGeough, Cllr Tomás Sharkey, Cllr Kevin Meenan, Tom Cunningham, Cllr Jim Loughran, Alan Cassidy, Kenneth Flood. Front row from left: Matt Carthy (EU candidate), Cllr Jennifer Green, Cllr Imelda Munster, Louth TD and party president Deputy Gerry Adams and Cllr Edel Corrigan
Sinn Féin is putting forward its largest ever team of local government candidates in Louth for this May’s elections.
The party launched its campaign at an event in The Fairways Hotel in Dundalk last night with president and local TD Gerry Adams addressing a packed meeting of candidates and party activists.
The event, which was attended by Sinn Féin’s EU candidate Matt Carthy, encouraged people to get behind the party’s 11 candidates who will stand for election on May 23rd.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Adams said the large number of candidates being put forward by Sinn Féin in Louth was a statement of intent as to the direction the party wanted to go in.
“Sinn Féin is going into to the Local and European elections in May as a party on the rise, not just in Louth but throughout this state. Since the 2011 General election Sinn Féin TDs and Senators have been holding the Fine Gael/Labour Government to account,” he said.
“They have been working hard to challenge and to change the toxic political culture which has led to the series of political scandals we have witnessed recently and to the bad political decisions which has seen ordinary citizens penalised while those at the top of society have been untouched by the consequences of the economic crisis.
“Sinn Féin is the only all-Ireland party. We will be fighting local government and European elections in the north on May 22nd and local government and European elections in this state the following day.
“In the 2011 General Election, the best so far for Sinn Féin in this state, the party topped the poll in Louth with 15,072 votes.
“We have a dynamic republican team contesting the local elections in this county with Jim Loughran, Edel Corrigan and JJ Quigley in Dundalk-Carlingford, Jennifer Green, Kevin Meenan and Tomás Sharkey in Dundalk South, Pearse McGeough and Tom Cunningham in Mid-Loutd and Imelda Munster, Alan Cassidy and Kenneth Flood in Drogheda.”
Deputy Adams said that health and justice issues were two of the biggest problems facing the county at present.
“As we face into these elections, there are major issues facing people in Louth. We are dealing with an unacceptable depletion of services at the Louth Hospital. The current crisis at Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda is due is its under-resourcing resulting in an inability to cope with the volume of patients they are dealing with.
“Ambulance cover in Louth is totally inadequate and has led directly to fatalities.
“Garda cover throughout the county has been reduced. The Department of Justice is not resourcing or developing the partnerships between the Gardaí and the communities on the ground in the way that it should.
“Louth is also severely disadvantaged as a result of being a border county. There has been no government investment in jobs or capital spend in infrastructure. The failure so far to proceed with the Narrow Water Bridge project has been a huge blow. Sinn Féin will not let this issue fall by the wayside.
“The Narrow Water Bridge project is needed for Louth, for South Down and it is needed as part of our national infrastructure.
“We have seen no innovation or imaginative proposals from the Fine Gael/Labour government to deal with the specific issues faced by border counties.
“Sinn Féin has been actively pursuing the cross-border sharing of local services, north/south and the establishment of specific EU Units as a means of drawing down investment from Europe in a more strategic way.
“There is a housing crisis in Louth with 4,800 people on the waiting list in this county.
“Thousands of families throughout this county are suffering as a result of planning irregularities and unfinished estates, built with no corresponding amenities.
“Citizens in Louth deserve better representation. They need real republican representation and increasingly they are looking to Sinn Féin to provide that,” he said.
The full list of Sinn Féin candidates going forward for election is:
Talk of the Town 