Ciaran Cannon (FG ) is retiring after 13 years, while independent TD, Corofin’s canny Seán Canney, first elected as a county councillor in Tuam 20 years ago, should retain his seat with some ease. So although now a four-seater, in reality Galway East is still a scrap for three.
| GALWAY EAST | |
| Population: | 114, 647 |
| Youth aged 0-19: | 29% |
| Seats: | 4 |
| Outgoing TDs | |
| Ciarán Cannon | FG (retiring ) |
| Séan Canney | Ind |
| Anne Rabbitte | FF |
Incumbent Anne Rabbitte, who has held a seat for Fianna Fáil for 8 years, is facing stiff competition from her party ‘colleague’ Albert Dolan, the precocious, 25-year-old Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council.
Rabbitte is based in Portumna - population 2,500 - with another 2,500 in the town’s hinterland, although she has name recognition throughout County Galway. Dolan is based in Athenry - population 5,700 - but with nearby Aughrim, Craughwell and rural areas combined, the population of his bailiwick soars to more than 11,000.
These stats really matter in a political district with a diverse social geography, where Rabbitte, a junior minister, is based in the less developed, southern end of the constituency. Fine Gael novice Niamh Madden, an estate agent in Portumna, may transfer well to and from Rabbitte, it voters keep it hyper local.
Young Dolan is better-known in the wealthier, Galway city commuter towns full of young families. This will be a real FF infight between a formidable mama bear, and a plucky young cub. Only the tallymen will know if these two Soldiers of Destiny transfer to each other, and how Fianna Fáil voters rank their preference will be paramount.
Sinn Féin’s Louis O’Hara is another popular young buck in the race for a seat. He missed out by 900 votes last time, when Fine Gael transfers after Peter Roche’s elimination helped elect Canney, Cannon and Rabbitte instead. If O'Hara holds what he earned in 2020, we may well see him sit in Dáil Éireann.
Abbeyknockmoy's Roche has his eyes on the prize now that his rival Cannon is shot, but it will be interesting to see how Fine Gael’s Salthill city councilor, Clodagh Higgins, polls around her homeplace of Athenry. Her sister, Lorraine Higgins, ran unsuccessfully for the Labour Party twice in Galway East, each time hauling in a respectable 4,000+ first preferences. Like Roche, Clodagh also will not have to deal with Cannon, a former leader of the Progessive Democrats, whose ward boss bluster was never fully embraced by old-guard, east Galway Blueshirts. He did, however, win plenty of votes.
Canney, a government supporter, will top the poll, so could his surplus transfer to FF and FG? Or might votes flow another way? Michael Fitzmaurice TD wisely did not transfer his candidacy from rural Roscommon, so Ballinasloe councillor Declan Geraghty is representing Independent Ireland in Galway East.
The Irish Kidney Association’s well-liked campaigner Eoin Madden, from outside Athenry, is running for the Green Party, while another impressive civic campaigner, Fergal Landy, who ran for Labour in the European elections, is running for the Dáil as a non-party candidate.
Plenty of possibilities and prickly personalities spice up the action in east Galway.
Prediction based on polls: 1x Ind, 2x FF, 1x FG
Our (don’t bet your money on this ) hunch: 1x Ind, 1x FF, 1x FG, 1x SF
Candidates
Conor Burke (PBPS ), Seán Canney (Ind ), Albert Dolan (FF ), Declan Geraghty (II ), Clodagh Higgins (FG ), Fergal Landy (Ind ), Eoin Madden (GP ), Niamh Madden (FG ), Paul Madden (IND ), Louis O’Hara (SF ), David O’Reilly (IP ), Anne Rabbitte (FF ), Pete Roche (FG ), Luke Silke (Aon )
