Over the decades in which Michael Fahy has been the institution he is in Galway politics, one feature of the election counts in which he was centre stage was the presence of his mother May.
A diminutive woman who looked ever smaller as her son towered over her, was a constant feature who would arrive in the hall not long before her son was due to be elected.
Many times she saw him lifted high on the shoulders of people, people who have changed over the years, and a few times she made the journey home with him when results had not gone their way.
Always they were together, always they were the double act from Ardrahan who were a constant feature of the counts.
I remember her at the tennis club many years ago telling me how proud she was of him and how she yearned for him to settle down. She knew he loved his politcs but that she wished he would find a “nice girl and settle down”.
Her face was one of those you’d meet only at election counts. But last weekend, she was not there when her son was hoisted high again by some of the 2,247 people who had voted him to the top of the poll last Friday.
Afterwards, as he spoke to me, he shed tears for May who passed away last Christmas, after an eventful two years in which she became the centre of media attention, when Michael was imprisoned on fraud charges.
“Every time I stood in an election, she was always by my side. This was the first time that she was gone, as I won here this evening,” he said, adding that this victory was the sweetest of them all, but also the saddest.
“The great vote that I got is a great tribute to my mother. If she was alive, this would have been the happiest day of her life,’ he said as he wept openly.
“Now I look forward to work on behalf of the people. It is my intention to work like I’ve never worked before. This is a second chance for me to come out in style and work on behalf of the people,” he added.
Cllr Fahy is prohibited from talking about the impending appeal against those fraud charges, an appeal which if he loses, could result in him having to forfeit the council seat which he won in style.
However, I believe that the resounding nature of this victory may be a key element of appealing that appeal if things go against the Ardrahan councillor.
Cllr Fahy was elected after the third count, with Pat Hynes winning his seat on the sixth count. The final and eighth count saw FF newcomer Gerry Finnerty elected, with FG’s Bridie Willers. This was a significant count for FG as they elected four councillors here when Peter Feeney, Jimmy McLearn and former PD Michael Moegie Maher crossed the line, joining Cllr Willers.
