ELECTION SPECIAL
It was very much Independents Day when Kerry went to the polls for Election 24 with non-party candidates taking 11 of the 33 seats up for grabs in the county.
Fianna Fail are again the biggest political party with nine councillors returned, Fine Gael won six seats, Sinn Fein clinched four, Labour held two and the Kerry Independent Alliance comfortably retained its seat.
Picture: Valerie O’Sullivan
It throws up an intriguing situation ahead of the first meeting of the new-look Kerry County Council – set for Friday, June 21 – and what is certain is that various parties and groupings will meet in advance in an attempt to negotiate a pact that will create the 17 votes required to take control of the key positions on the council.
The post of Mayor of Kerry, deputy mayor and some of the key committee positions will be greatly sought after and, in the outgoing council, the two hands on the lever of power belonged to Fianna Fail and Fine Gel who, between them, had the required 17 seats.
Now, however, both parties have dropped a seat with Independent candidates making two gains and that changes the local political landscape quite significantly.
Picture: Valerie O’Sullivan
With three Fine Gael councillors, Jim Finucane, Aoife Thornton and Patrick O’Connor Scarteen, Fianna Fail’s John Francis Flynn and Johnnie Wall and Sinn Fein’s Robert Beasley all stepping away from active politics prior to the election, there was always going to be new faces on the council for the next five years.
Added to that is the fact that Fianna Fail’s Michael D O’Shea, Fine Gael’s Seamus Cosai Fitzgerald and Sinn Fein’s Cathal Foley all lost their seats and it will result in even more change in county buildings when the successful candidates get down to business on Friday week.
So where will the power rest when the new council convenes?
Should Fianna Fail and Fine Gael renew their courtship, they will need two more to play gooseberry to reach the very minimum required voting strength of 17.
Could they do business with the elected Labour candidates?
Would they possibly consider opting to do a deal with Sinn Fein who have four seats given that such a move would guarantee more stability and limit the damage caused by any sort of maverick behaviour?
Picture: Domnick Walsh
Or could the two main parties in government try to negotiate a deal with a few like-minded Independents who could be tempted, perhaps, by the dangling carrot of a rotating mayor agreement like that which prevailed in the Killarney Municipal District for the past 12 months?
Maybe the Independents themselves could form some sort of caucus with one of the parties that might stand the test of time but that could quite unwieldly and it would require buy-in from all 11 with the support of six more councillors.
It’s unlikely but, given that they hold a third of the seats, could the non-party councillors possibly reach a deal with both Sinn Fein and Labour to reach the 17 seats required or is a deal between Fianna Fail or Fine Gael on their own with a group of Independents out of the question?
Picture: Domnick Walsh
And what of the Healy-Rae organisation? Three seats is a considerable voting block and there is no doubt but that Maura, Johnny or Jackie getting a term in the hotseat would go down well with the electorate who gave all three a massive endorsement with emphatic poll-topping first count victories in three of the six constituencies.
It’s all still to play for but it will be absolutely intriguing to see how this one will play out over the next 10 days or so.
Picture: Valerie O’Sullivan
In Killarney meanwhile, a pact that existed during the term the previous council is expected to hold true to determine who will hold the position of mayor and deputy mayor over the five-year term.
The agreement hammered out in 2019 involved Brendan Cronin (Ind), Marie Moloney (Lab), Niall Kelleher (FF) and Michael Gleeson (KIA) and the key positions were shared between them which meant that Maura Healy-Rae (Ind), Donal Grady (Ind) and Niall O’Callaghan (Ind) didn’t get a term with the chain of office.
Cllr John O’Donoghue succeeded his uncle, Michael Gleeson, in the council and Cllr Martin Grady now sits on the seat previously occupied by his father, Donal, so it is considered most likely that the pact that existed for the previous five-year term will be revived.
But then, a week is a long time in politics and given some of the surprises that emerged when the boxes were opened last Saturday, anything is possible in Kerry.
KERRY SEAT CHANGES
Fianna Fail: 9 (-1)
Fine Gael: 6 (-1)
Labour: 2 (–)
Sinn Fein: 4 (–)
Kerry Independent Alliance: 1 (–)
Independents: 11 (+2)
THE NEW LOOK COUNCIL
(*) denotes first-time councillors
Killarney
Fianna Fail: Niall Kelleher
Labour: Marie Moloney
Kerry Independent Alliance: John O’Donoghue
Independents: Maura Healy-Rae, Martin Grady, Brendan Cronin, Niall O’Callaghan
Kenmare
Fianna Fail: Michael Cahill, Norma Moriarty
Fine Gael: Teddy O’Sullivan Casey (*)
Independents: Johnny Healy-Rae, Podge Foley (*), Dan McCarthy
Castleisland
Fianna Fail: Fionnán Fitzgerald
Fine Gael: Bobby O’Connell
Independents: Jackie Healy-Rae, Charlie Farrelly
Tralee
Fianna Fail: Mikey Sheehy, Anne O’Sullivan (*)
Fine Gael: Angie Baily (*)
Labour: Terry O’Brien
Sinn Fein: Deirdre Ferris, Paul Daly (*)
Independents: Sam Locke
Listowel
Fianna Fail: Michael Leane (*), Jimmy Moloney
Fine Gael: Mike Kennelly, Michael Foley
Sinn Fein: Tom Barry
Independents: Liam Speedy Nolan (*)
Corca Dhuibnne
Fianna Fail: Breandán Fitzgerald
Fine Gael: Tommy Griffin
Sinn Fein: Robert Brosnan (*)
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