*Senator Roisin Garvey (GP) with her sister Sinead at The Cheese Press.
NOMINATIONS have closed for the General Election in Clare and the result is that a total of twenty candidates will appear on the ballot paper.
It is the longest ever ballot in the county for a General Election and strengthens the theory that the transfer of votes in Clare is going to be fascinating following the November 29th election.
Ballot Beats is The Clare Echo’s daily General Election (GE24) update where we will have observations on the campaign and see how issues of the day are impacting on candidates in Clare.
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Barry O’Donovan’s (RAB) entry into the field stretches the amount of candidates in Clare from 19 to 20. Fifteen candidates put themselves forward for election in Clare in 2020, 1943 and 1923, the latter of which saw five TDs elected when Eamon de Valera then of the Republican Party, Eoin MacNeill then of Cumann na nGaedhael, Brian O’Higgins with the Republican Party, Conor Hogan of the Farmers’ Party and Labour’s Patrick Hogan prevailed.
In total, 605 candidates have registered across the country, no single party has enough candidates to get a majority on their own regardless of the result. The party with the most candidates is Fianna Fáil with 82 followed by Fine Gael with 80 and Sinn Féin with 71. The constituency with the most candidates is Louth at 25. The new constituency of Wicklow-Wexford has the fewest at 10 candidates.
Across Clare, the campaign continues with candidates making the most of what is a vital weekend in terms of trying to win over voters.
Another strong canvass of Kilrush was completed by Dr Tom Nolan (FG) as momentum seems to grow behind his efforts to get into the Dáil.
Housing was highlighted by Cllr Rita McInerney (FF) who took her canvass to Ennis where she was joined by past and present Clare footballers, her brother Francis and nephew Mark. Cllr Pat Daly (FF) was also part of her team for the day.
Farmers were the focus for both Eddie Punch (II) and Cathal Crowe TD (FF) who began their day at Sixmilebridge Mart with Crowe doing some double jobbing, selling six weanlings at the Mart and trying to win some votes, he later headed to Meelick and Lissycasey where he paid tribute to the late PJ Kelly (FF).
Ennistymon and Lahinch were the destinations for Hilary Tonge (SD) where childcare, struggles of local businesses, post office closures and no emergency department were among the issues flagged.
Senator Roisin Garvey (GP) also covered the same ground, she was fuelled up in The Cheese Press, a business ran by her sister Sinead while she also received the backing of another popular café in the county, Sourdo’Farrell’s Keith O’Farrell coming out to voice his backing for the Inagh woman.
Also in North Clare was Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) who headed for Lisdoonvarna. Paddy Murphy (IND) continues to plot his campaign from “a hot and sunny Lahinch”.
Newmarket-on-Fergus was the stop for Amanda Major (IND) during a quick tour of the village.
Hoovering up the ground in East Clare was Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) who toured Bridgetown, Killaloe, Ardnacrusha, Westbury and Shannon Banks where his canvassing team included Cllr Pat Burke and local election candidate Val Gillane (FG).
Ennis was the subject of Leonora Carey’s (FG) canvass while she also travelled to Doora and Barefield. Who manages to pull a big vote from the county town will be a deciding factor in determining the county’s four TDs.
Leaflet drops were done in Crusheen on Friday by Michael Loughrey (IP) who says the people of Clare and Ireland have been “brainwashed”. He admitted he didn’t have time to engage with the people in Crusheen so he didn’t get to debate the issues with residents there.
According to Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF), “Sinn Féin will abolish the USC on the first €45,000 of your income. The USC was supposed to be a temporary tax, but a decade and a half later, it’s still hitting the people of Clare hard”.
Also appearing on the ballot paper in Clare are, June Dillon (AON), Kevin Hassett (IND), Michael Leahy (IFP), Matthew Moroney (IND) and Catriona Ni Chatháin (SOC).
