Fine Gael is pushing to win a second seat in Galway City West and the party is looking towards Cllr Brian Walsh to bring in one of his two running mates.
Cllr Walsh is joined on the ticket by pharmacist Barra Nevin and taxi driver Frank Fahy. FG believes the candidates have a good ‘geographic spread’ throughout the ward and that this will encourage good transfers and maximise the vote.
Roscam’s Barra Nevin is well known in the Doughiska/Briarhill area. It is one of the newest and largest areas of the city. It has no resident councillor and has been looking for much needed facilities from the Galway City Council. These factors could prove an advantage for Mr Nevin.
Mr Fahy is based in the Menlo/Tirellan area while Cllr Walsh will look after the Renmore, Mervue, Ballybane, etc, area.
However the party will not find it easy to win two seats. The ward has dropped from seven seats to six, making this hotly contested ward even more competitive.
Even if Fianna Fáil has a bad day, few see Cllr Michael J Crowe and Cllr Mary Leahy not challenging strongly for seats. Also Independent Cllr Declan McDonnell and Labour’s Cllr Tom Costello are judged to be strong. There is also a growing feeling that Labour’s Derek Nolan will be in a position to fight for one of the final two seats.
Cllr Walsh is likely to hold his seat comfortably, but will need a large surplus - and his running mates a decent first preference and transfers - if FG is to have any chance of taking two.
