Search Results for 'General Election'

“If Connaughton had only been named Sue or Seamus or Michael, I’d have had a chance, but to be called Paul, well that killed me in the polls.”

The Local Elections are over, bring on the General Election! There is never a time when politicians and political anoraks are not thinking about elections and Saturday’s results will be read as an indication of what lies ahead in 2012.

In the election count of 1991, three new bright councillors were elected onto Galway County Council. They beamed with pride as they marched into their first council meeting at the old Council chamber in the former County Buildings.

Missing out by just 14 votes in 2004 made Eileen Mannion something of a pessimist at the count centre at the weekend. Although the tallies showed that she was well placed to take a seat in Connemara, she wasn't counting any chickens until it was confirmed, as a direct result of her experience last time.

There was high drama in Castlebar as night was turning into day when the fourth count of the Swinford area pulled Joe Mellett, the Cathaoirleach of the last term of the previous council, back from the death. From early in the afternoon when the first tallies were done it was looking like Mellett was going to lose out to Fianna Fáil's first time candidate Michael Smyth.

Now that most of the posters are gone and the rest are being taken down in record time, what passes for normal life has resumed in Kilkenny.

It was a nail biting election for candidates over Sunday and Monday as the Euro election hopefuls waited to hear their fate.

Now it’s down to the real business

In November 1982, Fine Gael had their biggest breakthrough in Galway West when it took two out of five seats. Since the 1987 General Election, the party has never looked like repeating that success - until now.

There are many rumblings in the aftermath of the Local Elections as to the internal health of Fine Gael in east and north Mayo and recent mayoral and cathaoirleach elections are adding to the ether.