Offaly County Council election campaign heating up

WITH formal nominations opening on Saturday, 34 candidates have indicated their intention to seek seats in the 19-member Offaly County Council chamber.

There are three electoral areas in the county with seven seats available in the Tullamore Area and six each to be filled in the Birr and Edenderry Areas.

Nominations remain open until 12 noon on Saturday, May 18 and by Tuesday this week 13 people had signalled they will be running in the Birr Area, 10 in the Edenderry Area and 11 in the Tullamore Area.

Four sitting councillors are not seeking re-election – John Carroll (Independent) and Eamon Dooley (Fianna Fail), both in the Birr Area; John Foley (Independent), Edenderry Area and Danny Owens (Fianna Fail), Tullamore Area.

Fianna Fail is the party with the largest number of candidates in the race, 10, including election newcomers Barbara Daly, a sister of Cllr Dooley, Audrey Hennessey Kennedy, Claire Murray and Ollie Bryant.

Fine Gael and Sinn Fein both have five candidates each, though at time of writing Fine Gael still had just one declared for the seven-seat Tullamore Area, Cllr Neil Feighery.

There are six non-party (Independent) candidates, three of whom are sitting councillors, John Leahy, Sean O'Brien and Sandra Feehan Smollen. The latter was co-opted to the council in place of her husband Ken who was elected in 2019.

The Green Party will have three candidates, including Cllr Mark Hackett, who was co-opted in place of his wife Pippa, now a Minister of State after being elected to the council five years ago.

Banagher-based Social Democrat Cllr Clare Claffey is seeking re-election and the party's new candidate in Edenderry is John McNamee.

Also in the Birr Area, Sean Maher, a former councillor who lost out in 2019, is on the Sinn Fein ticket.

Among the Independents is Jonathan O'Meara, a candidate from Banagher who is aligned with the former Sinn Fein councillor and TD, Deputy Carol Nolan.

In the Edenderry Area a former elected representative, Fergus McDonnell, is running under the new Independent Ireland banner.

Aontu and the Irish Freedom Party have one candidate each in the field.

Voters in the Edenderry Area will see two candidates named Claire Murray on their ballot paper – one for Fianna Fail and another for Sinn Fein.

The Fianna Fail candidates are – Birr Area: Barbara Daly, Audrey Hennessey Kennedy, Cllr Peter Ormond. Edenderry Area: Cllrs Eddie Fitzpatrick and Robert McDermott, Claire Murray. Tullamore Area: Cllrs Declan Harvey, Tony McCormack, Frank Moran and Ollie Bryant.

Reflecting on the party ticket, local TD, Barry Cowen, said: “We are very lucky here in Offaly to have such a strong local party ticket for the upcoming local elections.”

Deputy Cowen, who is seeking a seat in the European Parliament, added: “Fianna Fáil is the largest party in local governments right across the country, and if elected, our local councillors contesting this election will work day and night to work for the people of Offaly.”

“We are the largest party in local government in Offaly County Council and we want to continue that momentum. These candidates want to deliver for the people of Offaly, and local issues are right at the heart of their campaigns.

“All of these candidates want to be as ambitious as possible, go even further and to deliver for the people of Offaly.”

The Fine Gael candidates are – Birr Area: Cllr John Clendennen and Hugh Egan. Edenderry Area: Cllrs Noel Cribbin and Liam Quinn. Tullamore Area: Cllr Neil Feighery.

The Green Party candidates are – Birr Area: Ekaterina Koneva. Edenderry Area: Cllr Mark Hackett. Tullamore Area: Liam Walsh.

The Social Democrats candidates are – Birr Area: Cllr Clare Claffey. Edenderry Area: John McNamee.

Sinn Fein's candidates are – Birr Area: Sean Maher. Edenderry Area: Claire Murray, Rory Ryan. Tullamore Area: Tim Farrell, Aoife Masterson.

The Aontu candidate is Aubrey Claffey from Lusmagh who is running in the Birr Area.

The Irish Freedom Party have one candidate, Paddy Broder, who is in the Tullamore Area.

The sole Independent Ireland candidate in Offaly is Fergus McDonnell in the Edenderry Area.

The Independent candidates are - Birr Area: Cllr John Leahy, Martin Buckley, Michael Deegan, Jonathan O'Meara. Tullamore Area: Cllrs Sandra Feehan Smollen and Sean O'Brien.

Anyone who is ordinarily resident in Ireland can seek a council seat. Candidates do not have to be Irish citizens but must be registered voters.

To be eligible to vote you must be at least 18 years old and ordinarily resident in Ireland.

Candidates are legally permitted to erect posters from Wednesday, May 8 but they must be removed within a week of polling day on Friday, June 7 (polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm).

Candidates may nominate themselves or may, with the candidate’s consent, be nominated by a proposer and that person must be registered in the same electoral area.

A nomination paper from a candidate of a registered political party must have a certificate of political affiliation.

Non-party candidates can either have 15 assentors supporting their candidacy or they can lodge a deposit of €100 with the returning officer.