FF candidate McCormack happy with election

FIANNA Fail general election candidate Tony McCormack has said he is happy with the party's performance in Offaly.

The Tullamore man is on course to win a seat in the Dail at the first attempt having received 6,358 votes in the first count.

Though he is well short of the 9,347 quota he believes transfers will push his final total up and said he is also impressed with how his party colleague, Edenderry woman Claire Murray, has done.

“I was very happy with the vote that I got, just over 6,000 votes. For a first time candidate it's fantastic. I'd like to thank all my canvassers who went out there and knocked on the doors, my director of elections Peter Waters, and Matt McCormack my brother, and everybody else that helped out throughout the whole campaign,” said Cllr McCormack.

“Fianna Fail in the exit poll yesterday were at 19.5% and if you put Claire's vote and my vote together you got over 23.5% so to be honest it's actually a good turnout for Fianna Fail right across the county.”

The Fianna Fail campaign plan was upset when a serving councillor, Eddie Fitzpatrick from Cloneyhurke, left the party and ran as a non-party candidate.

Cllr McCormack argued that Fitzpatrick's votes could be added to the Fianna Fail total.

“Obviously the 2,900 that Eddie has got, a lot of that would be Fianna Fail as well. Offaly has always been a strong Fianna Fail county, it is still a very strong Fianna Fail county. While we won't get the two seats at this stage I think it's been a very good showing by myself and Claire Murray. I think Claire has done fantastic, a new candidate, only on the council since July and somebody to watch for the future I think.”

Cllr McCormack, who runs a printing business in his home town, believes the election is an endorsement of a Fianna Fail/Fine Gael led Government.

“If you look at what people are looking for out there, and talking to people on the doors, the general consensus is they'd like to see Fianna Fail and Fine Gael back in power and it's looking like that if you look across the constituencies in the country.

“We worked very well in the last Government. We did a lot of work for the country and while not everything is done and we know we've a lot more to do we made very positive changes in the last four years.”

He said Sinn Fein's Aoife Masterson ran a “very, very good campaign” and got a “very, very good vote” for a first time candidate.

Mindful that this election was the first for nearly six decades where no candidate had the Cowen surname, Cllr McCormack said: “Brian Cowen and Barry Cowen put a great campaign in behind myself and Claire Murray. They came out, made videos, sent letters out that we were both endorsed by Barry and Brian.”

Reflecting on Fianna Fail's performance nationally he said: “It'll depend on where those final seats are won and lost but overall I think we've had a good day.”