Offaly's Connolly backers celebrate landslide presidential victory

THE local backers of the Catherine Connolly campaign were last weekend celebrating a decisive victory in the Offaly constituency.

Labour Party member Paddy Doheny said the result justified his party's decision to support her, Independent Cllr Sean O'Brien described her as an outstanding independent, while Cllr Aoife Masterson of Sinn Fein said she was not surprised at the scale of the Galway TD's win.

Said Mr Doheny: “It's a very proud day for Catherine and her family and for all the Labour Party and all that voted for her and we wish her the best when she gets up to the park. She was gathering support from all different factions in Irish society. She has proven that she can work in different roles, that she can bring people together, she's calm, she listens to what people have to say and she can get things done.”

Cllr O'Brien (pictured below on right with Mr Doheny at the count in Birr) said Catherine Connolly had been supported by all the so-called “minor parties” and people on the left.

“She really caught the imagination of those who were really interested in voting in the election,” said the Tullamore councillor.

The former Labour Party member added: “I think she'll make an excellent president. I think her demeanour throughout the campaign was excellent. People were trying to trip her up but she kept very cool, very calm, and very rational and she appealed to people. The fact that you have an independent candidate that outwitted, or outvoted, the two major national parties – I think it's a big statement by the people of Ireland.

“There is an element of anti-Government [in the vote] but the people had a choice as well. They chose her and I think she performed exceptionally well. She has unified the country. I think it's brilliant that she has such a high vote, that it's not just a marginal victory. It's a very, very clear victory.”

Asked to comment on the spoiled votes and the messages which some voters wrote on ballot papers, Cllr O'Brien said: “I think people have issues and they are entitled to have an opinion on those issues. People feel maybe a bit powerless. They're annoyed over individual issues and they want issues to be resolved and there's that feeling that they are not being resolved. People certainly want to be heard and if I was a member of the Government I would tell them, you've got to start listening to people. There's an unease.”

He said those who had written racist messages were a small minority but such sentiments were nonetheless “a worrying feature”.

“I think we have to have respect. As a young person I worked on the buildings in London when I was 18 – I'm going back to 1973 – I was glad to be able to go there and earn my living and I was very well looked after by the English people in the village where I lived. There are Irish people all over the world, in every single country, millions of Irish people.”

He also pointed out that Irishness is celebrated all over the world every St Patrick's Day. “I think we've got to get a little bit of perspective in all this. We're very well respected, we close down New York on St Patrick's Day, we're celebrated in China, in Canberra, throughout Europe and I think we have to recognise and appreciate that. I think it's about appreciating people's culture. I think we don't just lie down under this. It's a very small minority that have this kind of an opinion. I think we have to stand up to it.”

Cllr Masterson (pictured below at the count in Birr) said the Connolly triumph was the result of a grassroots movement and the candidate had tapped into a lot of the vote which had come out for abortion and marriage equality.

“Catherine really spoke to the best of us. She ran a very honest, sincere campaign that really touched into the values of what we want as a society. So I'm not surprised at the extent of the vote today,” said the councillor.

The Sinn Fein representative added: “There is a very clear anti-Government movement which has in this election largely got behind frustration and speaks to the frustrations people have with the Government. But there is also a significant number of people who did not feel that they were represented on the ballot and that is reflected in the numbers [of spoiled votes].

“As an opposition we need to look at why so many people feel disengaged from the Government but not connected to the opposition. We really need to examine that and... show people like Catherine has that politics can work and doesn't have to be the same old, that there is a better and fairer way to deliver on the things that actually matter to people.”

She said racist comments written on some of the spoiled ballot papers did nothing to influence the election of one candidate or another.

“If they have frustration with the Government and the immigration system the only way to change that is to come out and exercise your vote. Ultimately a spoiled vote will not change the conversation, it will not change the result today.”

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The councillor said the Government is mismanaging immigration by understaffing services with the result that decisions on asylum applications “are not being made in a timely manner”.

“The greater frustration is that people believe they're struggling and they believe the difficulties they're facing are a result of the increases in migration,” she added.

She said nobody is benefitting from the current system and cited the example of the centre at Inchmore House in Clara where people were being moved in and then moved out again after 90 days.

“People were moved into the house, were settled, ready to go to school, and they were told to move along. Now we have a situation where up to 260 people are being cycled in every 90 days. That's not benefitting either the community or the people who are being moved in.”

In a situation where anyone would find it difficult to access education, accommodation and health services in Clara, the current system is “setting people up to fail”.

Cllr Masterson said “telling people that there is no issue” and if they don't accept the system “they are racist” was leading to tensions and “other voices” had come in and exploited those tensions by telling people to spoil their votes “which ultimately is only benefitting Government”.