A coin toss in race for seats on Cavan County Council
As the sun came out, the campaign trail was also heating up this week with confirmation that 36 people have put themselves forward for election to Cavan County Council. With 18 seats up for grabs, it leaves a 50/50 chance for those putting their names on the ballot paper of securing a council seat.
Thirteen candidates will run in the Bailieborough-Cootehill municipal district, the largest pool of candidates of any one electoral area. There are a dozen hopefuls in the Cavan-Belturbet area.
Meanwhile, in the Ballyjamesduff Municipal District, 11 names will feature on the ballot paper. All but two sitting councillors are seeking re-election.
Fianna Fáil’s Craig Lovett (FF) has opted out in Ballyjamesduff; while Fine Gael’s Madeleine Argue (FG), in Cavan Belturbet, has announced her retirement after 25 years.
Of the 36 candidates running, just 10 (27.8%) are females hoping to contest a seat within the chamber.
Currently, there are just five sitting female councillors in the chamber (also 27.8%). While it may appear low, County Cavan actually fares better than the national average - with just under 24% of local authority councillors nationwide female.
The Ballyjamesduff local electoral area, however, currently has no female councillors. Two candidates, Gráinne McPhilips (Aontú) and Angela Gaffney (SF), are running for election.
Meanwhile, reflecting our increasingly multicultural society, two candidates in the Cavan-Belturbet district hope to bring a more diverse and international perspective to the chamber. Originally from Bulgaria and living in Ireland for the past nine years, Tinko Tinev is running for Aontú; while independent candidate Susuana Komolafe is originally from Nigeria and has been living in the county town for the past 20 years.
For the first time ever, the county has a Green Party candidate in Kevin Murphy - an environmental engineer from the Ballyconnell area. Liam van der Spek will once again run under the Labour banner.
Fianna Fáil, currently holds eight seats in the chamber and will run eight candidates in this year’s election. Fine Gael will run seven candidates and currently hold the same amount of seats. Sinn Féin hope to make a comeback running seven candidates in a bid to claim back the three seats they lost last time out.
Aontú also holds one seat and will run three candidates, one in each electoral area. Independent Ireland was founded in November 2023 and will also run two candidates in the local election, current councillor Shane P. O’Reilly for Ballyjamesduff; and Kristofer Shekleton in Bailieborough-Cootehill.
Independents and others make up the remaining eight candidates whom county Cavan’s residents will have the opportunity to vote for on Friday, June 7. Polls opens from 7am to 10pm.