It was just around teatime on Sunday when an entry worthy of any dramatic play took place. Through the doors of the tennis club count centre strode Michael D Higgins, walking with purpose up towards the side of the hall, covering a metre with each step, as the crowds parted like the Red Sea to let him through.
And as he made his way up the hall, the microphone was tapped, and the voice of the returning officer boomed out with the result of the Oranmore recount.
We expected a roar to come from the side to halt her progress, but deputy Higgins is not one for such rudeness. With each passing word that the returning officer uttered, the more Labour’s hope of taking the last seat was receding. It was akin to the movies when the last call from the governor grants the stay of execution as the condemned man is dead man walking.
As Deputy Higgins reached the top of the hall, Ms McDermott was at the podium, confirming that Liam Carroll had won the seat and that a Labour request for a further recount had been made.
There was a gasp in the hall as she continued that “this request has been refused.”
And as Deputy Higgins argued his points with official Ernie Lusby, there were tears in the eyes of Mr O’Rourke, a man who had just finished his third attempt to get into the council and who had fallen so cruelly short of the finishing line, losing out to a friend of his who lived merely across the fields that divide Frenchfort and Maree.
We had predicted here last week that this would be the most competitive area, and how right it was, given that just five votes separated Mr Carroll and Mr O’Rourke at the end of polling.
Former PD Jim Cuddy set the train rolling for all the former PDs in the county when he topped the poll with a very impressive 1,614 first preferences testament to the work of his small team of canvassers and to the public perception of the work he has done locally. Jarlath McDonagh and Malachy Noone were neck and neck for the second seat, and in the end only 28 votes separated them, with McDonagh winning out and Noone taking the third seat.
But it was only then that the drama started. The decision to distribute McDonagh’s surplus (and not Cuddy’s ) and then Noone’s, before distributing Cuddy’s left Carroll five clear of O’Rourke.
A recount was requested and granted; Sunday morning saw Michael D and advisors there to support O’Rourke concern over the order in which the votes were distributed. They were also keen to ensure that all votes, including spoiled and doubtful would be reviewed. Legal argument ensued and precedence regarding how surpluses are distributed was consulted and discussed.
For all the vagaries of and plaudits for the PR system, the distribution of surpluses is that line where maths breaks down and magic takes over. It is at that point that the benefits of electronic voting would have been seen at their best, but let’s not menion the war.
It took nine hours of counting before Ms McDermott confirmed that the result would stand but that the gap had narrowed to three votes — 1,612 for Carroll and 1,609 to O’Rourke.
Afterwards Cllr Carroll said that he and Mr O’Rourke had been friends for 25 years and that he hoped they would be friends for another quarter century at least. They posed for photographs. One happy that he had won a chance to represent his community in County Hall; the other probably realising now that after three attempts, a career in representative politics may not come his way. Hope and dreams — shattered hopes, living dreams. It was that sort of day.
