Demise of Dooley dynasty on Offaly County Council
Barbara Daly fails to retain seat vacated by retirement of her brother Eamon Dooley
THE decades-old Dooley dynasty in Offaly politics has come to an end.
Barbara Daly, daughter of the late Eddie Joe Dooley, former councillor and chair of Offaly County Council, was attempting to win the seat vacated by her brother Eamon Dooley.
The Ferbane family also previously had another clan member on the local authority, Sinead Dooley, but the fate of the line hinged on Barbara Daly on this occasion.
She was eliminated on count 10 in a three-day battle in the Birr Electoral Area which is slowly inching its way towards the finish line.
Ms Daly received 979 first preference votes, putting her in sixth place when the starting gun on the race was fired on Saturday morning.
However, the vagaries of proportional representation and the single transferable vote dictated that she was not destined to win one of the six available seats.
On the second count she was overtaken by her party colleague and fellow first-time candidate Audrey Hennessy Kennedy from Birr.
Fianna Fail had ambitions for two seats but the prospects looked shaky as the counts progressed and Daly was surpassed by the battling Social Democrats councillor from Banagher, Clare Claffey, on the tenth count.
Cllr Claffey gained 176 transfers from Banagher man Jonathan O'Meara, the Independent candidate who was backed by Deputy Carol Nolan, bringing her to 1,088.
Barbara Daly added 35 to her total, leaving her trailing on 1,047.
Rumours swept the count centre that a recount could be called, possibly on the basis of the results of earlier counts.
Legal advice was also sought by Fianna Fail but no action has been taken so the destination of the last three seats in the Birr Area – and the county of Offaly – will be between Hugh Egan of Fine Gael, Sean Maher of Sinn Fein, Audrey Hennessy Kennedy and Clare Claffey.
Transfers from Daly will ensure Hennessy Kennedy's election, bringing Fianna Fail's number of seats on the council to eight, the same as they won in 2019.
Cllr Claffey needs a healthy transfer to repeat her success of five years ago when she made her electoral debut.
Count 10 in detail -
Birr Electoral Area: Count 10
Distribution of Jonathan O'Meara's 881 votes
Quota 1,712
Six seats: three already filled -
Peter Ormond – FF – 1,943 (elected)
John Leahy – Ind - 1,815 (elected)
John Clendennen – FG – 1,781 (elected)
Hugh Egan – FG – 1,393 + 65 Total: 1,458
Sean Maher – SF – 1,138 + 99 Total: 1,237
Audrey Hennessy Kennedy – FF – 1,110 + 102 Total: 1,212
Clare Claffey – SD - 912 + 176 Total: 1,088
Barbara Daly – FF – 1,012 + 35 Total: 1,047 (Eliminated)
Non transferable votes - 404