Fine Gael gain seat in Cavan Electoral Area
by Tom Carron Updated: Wednesday, 10th June, 2009 1:00pm
Sinn Féin top poll, while future is promising for Labour
The Cavan electoral area, which encompasses Cavan town and its highly populated rural hinterland, is always a focus of considerable inter-party rivalry in all local elections.
It too revealed its share of surprises in this election with one outgoing councillor, Fianna Fáil"s TP Smith, losing his seat and Fine Gael making an electoral gain in the form of new councillor Val Smith from Lavey.
The remarkable performance of Labour candidate, Liam Hogan, an employee of the HSE, was one of the new dimensions and although Mr. Hogan narrowly missed gaining a seat, the indications look good for Labour who normally would have struggled to make a breakthrough in the hunt for a seat on Cavan County Council. Initially Labour called for a recount after Hogan was just 23 votes behind but he conceded in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Being inclusive of Cavan town with its increased population it was always a possibility that there would be change and candidates and supporters alike were anxious to get a read on the situation from the opening of the ballot boxes at the count centre on Saturday morning.
There was interest as to how a field of largely experienced outgoing councillors would perform. In the event, it was apparent that Sinn Fein"s Charlie Boylan along with Fine Gael"s Madeleine Argue and Winston Bennett were polling well.
The removal of the Crossdoney area from the Cavan Electoral Area to Belturbet was seen as hitting Cllrs. Bennett and Boylan but Cllr. Bennett was pleased with the overall spread of his vote, particularly the vote he was getting out of the county town.
An early tally of ballot boxes showed Madeleine Argue polling well at the booths in St. Clare"s school with Charlie Boylan doing well in Ballyhaise, Castletara and Redhills. Former Fine Gael TD Andrew Boylan had polled well in Butlersbridge, while Madge Fleming was vying with Winston Bennett for the majority share of the votes in Ballinagh.
The parish or local loyalty factor transcends party politics in local elections and this was very evident throughout Co. Cavan with the strong voter preference for a particular candidate in his/her town or village clearly indicating that party lines were being crossed as people sought to return one of their own to a position of influence on the county council.
In this regard the strong performance of candidates such as Gerry Murray and Val Smith in the Crosskeys and Stradone areas was reflective of that trend.
The first count elected both Charlie Boylan and Madeleine Argue. Charlie Boylan on 1,354 topped the poll followed by Cllr. Argue on 1,233. This was Charlie Boylan"s best electoral performance and he was the poll topper in the county in these elections.
Cllrs. Charlie Boylan and Madeleine Argue were followed by Winston Bennett on 1,064 and Andrew Boylan on 925. Cllr. Andrew Boylan"s vote was down from the 1,312, which he achieved in the 2004 election when he topped the poll. The distribution of Charlie Boylan and Madeleine Argue"s surpluses elected Winston Bennett while the elimination of TP Smith at the end of the third count led to the election of Andrew Boylan on the fourth.
Then the transfer of Madge Fleming"s votes in the next count elected both Gerry Murray and Patricia Walsh. Cllr. Walsh expressed obvious delight at her victory and with being safely returned to the seat that she won in 2004.
The performance of Liam Hogan of Labour was one of the eye catching events of this election. So also was the vote getting ability of Fine Gael"s new candidate Val Smith. At the end of the sixth count, 17 votes separated them with Val Smith on 1012 and Liam Hogan on 995.
The distribution of Bennett"s surplus at the end of the seventh gave Smith six extra votes. After a checking of votes at the request of Labour the situation remained unchanged and the Lavey man was deemed elected thus giving Fine Gael an extra seat in this electoral area.
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