John Mulholland has opened a book on candidates’ chances in the upcoming General Election, with Minister Éamon Ó Cuív the odds-on favourite to retain his seat in the poll.
The bookmaker, operated by former Fine Gael city councillor John Mulholland, has already seen a flurry of bets on who will win the five seats in the Galway West constituency. John Mulholland Bookmakers is offering odds of 1/16 for Minister Ó Cuív to be re-elected, with Dep Noel Grealish second favourite at 1/10 to secure a seat in Galway West. Cllr Brian Walsh (Fine Gael ) is third favourite at 1/5.
Fine Gael’s Senator Fidelma Healy Eames is also tipped to be elected in the upcoming poll, with odds of 2/7 in favour of her making it third time lucky as a Dáil candidate.
Dep Frank Fahey has already said he is unlikely to retain his seat, and the opinion polls certainly reflect his pessimism. However according to Mulholland the question must be asked, would he run if he did not think he had a chance? Could his strong Menlo following and transfers from Cllr Michael Crowe get him over the line? The bookmaker has priced Dep Fahey up as a 3/1 shot to be returned to Dáil Éireann. According to Mulholland the fifth and final seat is likely to be a dogfight between the locally popular Independent candidate Cllr Catherine Connolly (8/13 ), Labour’s Cllr Derek Nolan (evens ) and the two city based Fianna Fail candidates Dep Fahy and Cllr Crowe (5/2 ).
The full betting on who will win a seat in Galway West is as follows:
Ó Cuív 1/16
Grealish 1/10
B Walsh 1/5
Healy Eames 2/7
Connolly 8/13
Nolan Evens
Crowe 5/2
Fahey 3/1
Naughton 6/1
Kyne 6/1
E Walsh 20/1
O Brolchain 25/1
The Galway bookmaker has also released a statement this week expressing its regret at the closure of Celtic Bookmakers. “Mulholland Bookmakers would like to express their sadness at the imminent closure of Celtic Bookmakers,” said Eddie Mulholland of John Mulholland Bookmakers. “The adage of the bookmaker never loses is no longer true and, while we have also experienced a drop off in spend in the last two years through management restructuring, staff cooperation involving a reduction in overtime, and manning levels and innovative offers, with a strong dedication to be best for our customers, we are hopeful that we have weathered the storm effectively. After celebrating 75 years in business last year we look forward to servicing the west of Ireland for the next 75.”
While Celtic Bookmakers never invested in the online market, John Mulholland, along with six other strong independent bookmakers in Ireland, launched Betpack.com which now serves more than 15,000 customers and growing.
