Status quo maintained on Cootehill Town Council
by Sinead Hogan Updated: Wednesday, 10th June, 2009 1:00pm
The national headlines screamed about Fianna Fáil"s demise in local elections throughout the country, but in the town of Cootehill, where personality seems to count more than party politics, the status quo was retained - three seats each to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, two Sinn Fein and one Independent.
With two outgoing elected representatives for Cootehill Town Council not putting themselves forward for re-election (Fianna Fail"s Gerry McDonagh and Bernard Mullen, Independent), two fresh faces will grace the chamber for the coming term.
The sitting councillors all managed to retain their seats, albeit with varying degrees of comfort, and two first-timers were also elected, namely Don Smith (FF) and Damien Kivlehan (Ind). The sitting councillors elected were: Aidan Boyle (FG), Michael McCarey (FF), Vincent McCaul (FG), Harry McCabe (SF), Paddy Halton (FG), Sean Igoe (FF), and John Martin (SF). The three candidates who didn"t secure a seat were first-timers: Alex Peter Ivanov (GP), Philomena McCabe (FG) and Danny Byrne (FF) who was in the running right up until the final count.
A few striking aspects of the count emerged as talking points in Cootehill Courthouse during the day-long count: Fianna Fáil held its own despite a national sea of opposition; election first-timer Don Smith rallied a big wave of support, breezing in on the first count with 87 spare first preference votes to throw around; long-time Cllr. Aidan Boyle topped the poll for the third time running; John Martin had an uncertain few hours only securing the second Sinn Féin seat on the final count; and late entrant to the election, Damien Kivlehan, garnered a very respectable 67 first preference votes to secure his seat on the final count.
A tired but delighted Don Smith admitted he 'did a huge canvass' to be so successful in 'bucking the trend' in terms of the anti-goverment feeling. His party colleague, Sean Igoe, surmised that Fianna Fáil supporters came out to support a party under threat. 'I think there"s a latent Fianna Fáil vote that"s there all the time, but they came out yesterday,' said Cllr. Igoe.
'Don"s performance was fantastic. He comes from a very strong Fianna Fáil family and, as a publican in the town, he"s well respected.'
The only candidate to top Don Smith, Aidan Boyle, spoke thus of his continued success: 'I"m very proud that the people of Cootehill have given me this mandate and to top the poll for the third time is a huge achievement.'
Sinn Féin candidates admitted they were 'disappointed' that John Martin"s re-election was such a close call. Asked to speculate about the result, he reasoned that another candidate in the same area split the vote there and that a lot of people didn"t even bother to vote.
'If I had got half the votes I was promised, I would"ve been elected on the first count,' said Cllr. Martin. Cllr. McCabe agreed.
'I have mixed feelings because I"m very happy with my own result but I"m disappointed that John hasn"t polled better than he has. John is one of the hardest working councillors in the chamber. I can"t fathom it.'
Damien Kivlehan was possibly the biggest surprise, having gone forward 'at the very last minute - on a Friday at 5pm, with the deadline being noon on the Saturday,' as he put it.
The newly elected councillor, who is well-known locally for his work with voluntary organisations, told the Anglo-Celt that he put himself in the running because he had 'little issues to fight for', many healthcare related.
'It"s real people I"m concerned about,' said Cllr. Kivlehan, whose low-budget approach to election literature is note-worthy. 'I paid Drumlin House €90 to do black and white posters. I like to keep things simple and keep it local.'
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