Mary Brady loses seat in Ballyjamesduff LEA

The Ballyjamesduff area count was the least volatile of the four for Cavan County Council with the state of the parties in this area remaining the same - Fine Gael, three seats; Fianna Fáil, two seats and Sinn Féin one. There was just one casualty as far as sitting councillors were concerned with Cllr. Mary Brady (FG) losing her seat to party colleague Dessie Boylan. It was a reversal of the situation in 2004 when Mary Brady took the then sitting councillor, Dessie Boylan"s seat. Speaking to the Anglo-Celt, Cllr. Mary Brady said she was 'very annoyed' and hit out at Fine Gael headquarters for allowing five candidates to run in a six-seater. 'There were too many candidates on the ballot paper. They"ve always run four candidates in the Ballyjamesduff area. I think it was unfair that five were allowed to go,' she said. In addition, Cllr. Brady said that the transfer of 775 votes to the Belturbet area as part of the boundary review had affected her vote badly. Two polling booths at Drumbrade and Wateraughey, the area in which Mary Brady grew up and went to school, went into the Belturbet area. Dessie Boylan said he was 'delighted to be back' but disappointed that it was at the expense of his party colleague. 'Mary Brady has served the area very well for the past five years and that was reflected in the very good vote that she got, which allowing for the changes in the boundary, was an improvement on her vote in the 2004 elections,' he said. Elected for 20 years when he lost his seat in 2004, Cllr. Boylan said that jobs, the economy and roads would be top of his priority going back into the Council Chamber. 'I am a strong believer that the Council should insist on adequate funding from the Department of the Environment and use their own resources to maintain the county road network in a satisfactory condition,' he said. Cllr. Paddy Smith (FG) topped the poll in his second election with 1,177 first preference votes, followed closely by party colleague Cllr. Paddy O"Reilly (FG) on 1,143 votes. The biggest story from this area was the phenomenal performance put in by Fianna Fáil Cllr. Shane P. O"Reilly, who polled 1,135 first preference. He completely bucked the national trend to take the seat on the fourth count and the achievement was particularly great considering that the Fianna Fáil party ran a second candidate, Peter G. Brady quite close geographically to Cllr. Shane P. O"Reilly. Speaking the Anglo-Celt, an elated Shane P, who got the largest Fianna Fáil vote in the county, said it was a 'personal vote' for him and not necessarily a party vote. Although committed to the Fianna Fáil party, Cllr. Shane P. O"Reilly said that the Government had made 'mistakes' on some policy issues and cutbacks, particularly in the area of education. 'My biggest priority has been national schools from the word go and I will be fighting tooth and nail for St. Mary"s NS in Virginia, St. Killian"s NS in Mullagh and Carrickabruise NS in Maghera. There are situations that are untenable and need to be changed. Prefabs are not the answer,' he said. 'My humble opinion has always been that what the Department of Education should be doing is given the money to the BOM to local management to encourage local contractors and get the best value for money. Prefabs are not the answer, they are a necessary evil,' added Cllr. Shane P. O"Reilly. Economic issues, he said, can only be dealt with nationally and on an all-party basis. 'This thing of pigeon holing and party politics and parish pomp politics, it doesn"t work and people are going to have to start working together and that has always been my opinion. On Cavan County Council, I work with every party,' said Cllr. Shane P. O"Reilly. Meanwhile, poll topper Paddy Smith said he hadn"t set out to top the poll was delighted all the same. He paid tribute to his family, canvassers and the voters, as did all candidates. Cllr. Smith said his main priority in the year ahead is to put Ballyjamesduff on the map and in particular the County Museum there. Cllr. Paddy O"Reilly who is beginning his fifth term on the Council said it was a 'very difficult election'. Top of his list of priorities are initiatives to create jobs locally and stimulate the economy. Funding for home help, education and children with special needs, particularly children with autism, are also major issues for Cllr. Paddy O"Reilly. 'The agricultural sector is absolutely on its knees at the moment and the dairying sector in particular doesn"t seem to be a priority for the Government and I would hope that our Minister would take the results here in Cavan very very seriously and get out there and do something in Brussels for that sector of the community,' he said. 'We"re watching a flight from the land at the present time and we need better marketing of our products abroad... it is the Government who"s supposed to be marketing our products abroad and they"re not going that,' said Cllr. Paddy O"Reilly. Fianna Fail"s Danny Brady is 42 years on Cavan County Council and a secured an eight term. Jobs and the economy and also foremost in his mind, as are roads. 'There are some places in my area where I feel the road structure is disintegrating and I want to see that rectified. There are roads in the Mountnugent, Ballymachugh and Castlerahan areas that need to get priority,' he said. Sinn Féin"s Pauline Tully McCauley was breathing a sigh of relief that transfers went her way. Along with roads, Cllr. McCauley said that housing and education are major issues. 'Housing is always an issue and especially in the current economic crisis. A lot more people are unable to buy their own home and are on the housing list and again that budget has been cut so that poses a problem. Education is a huge issue as well. The cutbacks are really going to hit schools coming September. We will see a decrease in the number of teachers, an increase in class sizes, and cutbacks in SNAs (Special Needs Assistants) and that"s going to hit the most vulnerable children especially,' she said.