*Cllr Gabriel Keating’s (FG) car later ran into difficulty in a separate election campaign.
MORE THAN €2,000 in diesel was paid by a West Clare councillor during a period of sixty days prior to polling day.
Data obtained by The Clare Echo from the Disclosure of Donations and Expenditure, Spending Limits and Political Donation Accounts for candidates in last year’s local elections has revealed that Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG) submitted a bill for €2050 on diesel during the campaign.
Cross native Gabriel who resides on the outskirts of Ennis had a total claim of €4984, almost forty one percent of which was related to travel expenses.
Also in the Kilrush local electoral area (LEA), high transport and travel fees were submitted by Cllr Michael Shannon (FF) at €1980 and John Hill (II) at €1300, as Hill was unsuccessful in his election bid he will not be reimbursed. Cllr Bill Slattery (FG)’s travel bill in the Ennistymon LEA hit €1750 and Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) in the Killaloe MD claimed for transport and travel expenses of €1150.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Cllr Keating commented of his fuel bill, “You’re going around for 90 days with €50 for diesel, stopping and starting for a day and you’ve 90 days from April to June which works to €4000”.
He continued, “It’s not an area where I spend monies or buy people dinners, I go on the work I do and the slogan that I get things done”.
With the Kilrush LEA stretching from Ballyea to the Loop Head Peninsula, there is a lot of miles to cover in the constituency, Cllr Keating flagged. “I’m in a rural area. An urban councillor walks around town, my area goes from Newhall to Loop Head up to Quilty back to the Bellbridge over to Kildysart.
“It is a massive area, I do all the driving myself, I’ve the biggest area as a rural councillor. You must spend money to get in and I could have spent more. If you travel West Clare and see the roads, you’re putting in diesel, AdBlue and getting servicing for the three months on the road,” he added.
Keating said, “Travel is very expensive, I do three goes, morning, afternoon and evening which means I’m going all the time, people like you to call, the areas most out of reach they like you calling to see them and speaking to them”.
When it came to canvassing for Dr Tom Nolan (FG) in November for the General Election, the former Deputy Mayor suffered irreparable damage to his red Audi when sea-water in Quilty got into the engine of his car. “I lost my car out of the last election, a driver error, I could have sued the Council because there was no sign up, I wasn’t going spending Council money there, it was my own resources then”.
