Roscrea keeps both sitting Councillors after exciting race to the finish line

YOUTH and experience were on the ballot in the Roscrea and Templemore electoral area and in the end experience won as Roscrea will keep its two sitting local councillors for the next five years.

Housing, the cost of living, immigration and the future of agriculture were some of the issues at the front of voters' minds as they filled in their ballot papers across the Roscrea and Templemore area, where 8,337 people from a total electorate of 15,059 voted on Friday last. Turnout was 56.03%, with 101 spoiled votes.

1,668 viotes was the quota to cross the finish line and win a seat and two candidates, who had swapped the lead repeatedly as counting progressed during Saturday, went home elected and leaving the final two seats to be filled on the third and sixth counts on Sunday.

Eight brave candidates put themselves forward for election to four seats on the nine seater Thurles Municipal Council, in an area with Labour's youngest candidate nationally, Jordan Lewis and a Green Party option for the first time in Roscrea native Aisling Maloney.

A hattrick of topping the poll for Fianna Fáil's Michael Smith in these elections saw him take the highest first preference percentage vote in County Tipperary at 29% of the poll and take the first seat in the Roscrea and Templemore local electoral area late on Saturday night after a gruelling first day of counting.

In the wake of the closure of the Racket Hall Hotel, when focus was on the loss of the town's only open hotel business, he proposed examining reopening the former Grant's Hotel (once the Pathé Hotel and later rebranded as the Damer Court) - a proposal which might increase footfall into the town centre and help capitalise on Roscrea's tourist product.

Tourism and opening up sites such as Monaincha Abbey were a major focus of Cllr. Smith throughout the last term of the Council, who has a vision of harnessing the latent attraction in Roscrea's vista of undiscovered tourism sites and making tourism a dependable business model in the heritage town.

He has also worked closely with the OPW throughout his time as a Councillor and spearheaded the Taste of Roscrea Christmas festival and market which began in the grounds of Roscrea Castle and now found a home in the Blackmills complex and earned a reputation as a festive highlight in the midlands region.

Vitriolic commentary online was directed towards Cllr Smith during the election and many predicted he was on the wrong side of local opinion about immigration in Roscrea and it would affect his vote; but those outspoken people were proven wrong and what may have been a silent majority rallied to support him.

He chose not to participate in local radio debate in the lead up to the election and did not attend the traditional Meet the Candidates pre-election public meeting organised by Roscrea Community Development Council, but this did not appear to dilute what was an incredibly impressive result.

His staunch stance on immigration made him a target online for people against the change in demographics and population, but he remained resolute and instead focused on attempting to deliver the community hotel model for Grant's Hotel and highlighted his reputation for hard work and selfless commitment to his community.

This saw his first preference votes soar to pole position and he enthusiastically celebrated topping the polls late on Saturday night surrounded by family and flanked by his father and former Minister for Defence and Tipperary TD, Michael Smith Snr.

Hot on his heels and also elected on the first count late on Saturday night was Lowry Team member and sitting councillor Shane Lee, who took the second seat and saw his first preference vote grow by almost 1,000 from his 2019 result and was only 229 votes behind the poll topper on this occasion, having been elected on the fifth count in the previous election.

Interestingly, Cllr Lee was at the front of protests in Roscrea when the Racket Hall Hotel was closed in January and benefited from a very strong base of loyal young voters in Roscrea - many who voted for the first time in these local elections and were vocal about their support for their local councillor online.

But it wasn't just his stance on how the government handles immigration that mushroomed his vote, as the energetic young Councillor, who celebrated his 40th birthday in the days before the election, is very active in Roscrea and leads the towns St Patrick's Day and Halloween celebrations, as well as being very involved in a myriad of local sporting clubs and organisations.

When Roscrea was in the national headlines in the aftermath of the closure of the town's only hotel, Cllr Lee was repeatedly thrust into the national spotlight and put in the difficult and unenviable position of being a spokesperson for the people of the town who chose to protest in the face of a barrage of criticism and never shied away from the difficult questions.

The third seat was allocated in the third count and was filled by a second Lowry Team member and sitting councillor, Eddie Moran from Templemore. He benefitted from both councillor Lee's and Smith's transfers and received 1,423 first preference votes.

The fourth and final seat went to Fine Gael's Willie Kennedy, who ran after former TD and Senator, Noel Coonan, announced his decision to retire from politics ahead of the 2024 local elections.

Mr. Kennedy, who received 1,143 first preference votes, took his seat on the sixth count on Sunday afternoon and one of ten seats for Fine Gael on the new Tipperary County Council.

First time Fianna Fáil candidate from Templemore, Deirdre Ryan, who shot to prominence during the reversal of the decision to downgrade access to the swimming pool in Templemore Garda College, received 525 first preference votes.

First time candidate, Sinn Fein's, Brendán O'Conchúir received 313 first preference votes and said he will continue to dedicate himself to his local community activist work and look towards the next local elections.

Labour's youngest candidate nationally, Roscrea native Jordan Lewis, received 125 first preference votes and did not appear to benefit from the resurgence of votes for Labour seen elsewhere in Tipperary and was eliminated on the fourth count.

First time candidate and the first ever Green Party hopeful to run in the Roscrea area, Aisling Maloney, received 117 first preference votes.

The 21-year-old candidate, who is passionate about green issues and issues facing young people, said she hopes to pursue a career in politics after the experience of contesting the local elections.