*Photograph: John Mangan
CLARE is to have its longest ever ballot paper for a General Election with a total of nineteen candidates already declared.
Previous records of sixteen General Election candidates in Clare as recorded in 2011 and 2016 is set to be surpassed when the people of the county head to the polls to elect their four TDs to serve the next term at Dáil Éireann with a confirmed field of nineteen candidates to choose from.
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.
Five had been the highest amount of female candidates to run in the same General Election in Clare but this figure has almost doubled and now nine women will appear on the ballot paper.
Fianna Fáil have had three candidates in situ since their convention in September with sitting TD, Cathal Crowe (FF) joined by Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) and Cllr Rita McInerney (FF).
Fine Gael went from one candidate to three in the space of ten hours on Sunday with first-time candidate Leonora Carey (FG) joined by Dr Tom Nolan (FG) and Cllr Joe Cooney (FG).
Sitting TD, Violet-Anne Wynne (IND) will be fighting to retain her seat, her former party colleague Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) will be battling to take a fair share of the 8,987 first preferences she received four years ago.
Deputy Leader of the Greens, Senator Roisin Garvey (GP) will be contesting her second General Election, she polled 5,624 first preference votes in February 2020 and months later was nominated to the Seanad alongside Dooley.
Five months after running for the European Parliament, both Eddie Punch (II) and Michael Leahy (IFP) are once again seeking the number one vote of the people of Clare. Unsuccessful in their bids to get elected to Clare County Council in June were Kevin Hassett (IND), Michael Loughrey (NA), Amanda Major (IND), Matthew Moroney (IND) and Hilary Tonge (SD) are hoping for a better outcome this time round.
Tonge will be the first Social Democrat candidate in Clare in a General Election while the same applies for Kilmurry McMahon’s June Dillon (AON) who is running for Aontú. Manager of the Nineteenth Bar in Lahinch, Paddy Murphy (IND) and Catriona Ni Chatháin (SOC) who contested the election for the Directly Elected Mayor in Limerick five months ago are also in the running.
