ANALYSIS: Ruthless vote management ensures Fianna Fail retain four seats in Tullamore area

Ruthless vote management – of the type for which Fianna Fail were renowned in the past – paid off handsomely for the party in the Tullamore Electoral Area when it comfortably retained its four seats on the council.

With the retirement of popular long-serving councillor, Danny Owens, it had been widely expected in the run-up to the decider that the party would loose its overall majority on Tullamore Municipal Distirct.

But against the odds the Soldiers of Destiny maintained their vice-like grip on the district council with newcomer Ollie Bryant taking the last seat without reaching the quota.

On the first count all four candidates were relatively equally balanced in first preferences with Clara's Frank Moran unsurprisingly leading the pack.

He was followed by Tullamore based Tony McCormack and Declan Harvey with first-timer Ollie Bryant, from Cloonagh, coming up the rear though with an impressive 1182 votes. The quota stood at 1459 votes.

Frank Moran was elected on the third count having missed out on being elected a count earlier by just 30 votes.

Tony McCormack – predicted to be a candidate in the General Election if (or when) sitting TD Barry Cowen goes to Europe - followed with Declan Harvey being elected on the final count after surpassing the quota. Ollie Bryant was also elected on the final count without reaching the quota by the slimmest of margins.

As expected Fine Gael's sole candidate Neil Feighery topped the poll and was first to be elected in the early hours of Sunday morning after exceeding the quota. The Killoughey based candidate, as the party's sole standard bearer, attracted a massive tally of 1962 first preferences.

The largest portion of his surplus went to near neighbour, Ollie Bryant, another example of the geographical vote transfer pattern which was evident in each electoral area throughout the count.

The Holmshill resident was particularly popular in his local area attracting a phenomenal 80 per cent of the vote in one box in Killoughey.

Fine Gael were unsuccessful in persuading a second candidate to stand in the Tullamore area andt undoubtedly there will be much soul-searching within the organisation in coming weeks as to what might have been.

The second big story of the election in the electoral area was the re-emergence of Sinn Fein onto the scene following a drubbing at the hands of voters in the 2019 contest.

First-time candidate, Aoife Masterson, secured 1216 first preferences and was transfer friendly throughout the race ensuring her election on the fourth count.

She trod the highways and byways of the area on canvass over the past few months and her thoroughness was enhanced by her endorsement by former poll-topping Sinn Fein representative Brendan Killeavy.

Her running mate, Tim Farrell performed poorly – just 201 first preferences – but the odds were stacked against him as he had been added to the ticket in the latter stages of the campaign following the withdrawal from the race of the originally selected candidate, Teresa Bracken

Veteran Independent, Sean O'Brien, who put in an impressive campaign, recorded his best election performance in his political career securing 1337 first preferences – a whopping 47 per cent more than on his last outing in 2019. With such a tally the left-winger was assured of his place on the next council and he was returned on the fourth count after surpassing the quota.

The Carlow native and Whitehall resident secured votes across the electoral division, in both rural and urban districts.

He polled strongly in areas such as Durrow and Killeigh and in St Philomena's N.S. Box No. 3 in Tullamore town, which includes Whitehall and Hophill, he captured an astonishing 110 first preferences.

It was a disappointing day for Clara based Sandy Feehan-Smollen, who had only been recently co-opted onto the council in place of her husband, Ken Smollen, who is suffering from a serious illness.

She secured 782 first preferences but from the outset it seemed virtually impossible for her to secure a seat.

Traditionally Clara has returned two councillors to Aras an Chontae so there will be some annoyance in the town and the surrounding area at the outcome.

Newcomer, Patrick Broder, of the Irish Freedom Party, captured 418 first preferences but was just too far behind to be in serious contention for a seat.

The Moate based candidate recently came to prominence from his starring role in Tullamore Amateur Dramatic Society's successful production, “The Incarnation of the Prodigal Son”.

With the wind in his face the Green Party's Liam Walsh faced an uphill struggle to gain a seat on the council. He was eliminated on the third count but, speaking to the Tribune afterwards, he said the Greens will regroup locally and focus on the next General Election.

Latecomer to the race Independent Deirdre Dillon attracted 155 first preferences and was eliminated after the second count. The Killurin based candidate campaigned on a platform of integrity, fairness, justice and accountability.