Fianna Fáil Claregalway councillor Malachy Noone will be joined by Martina Kinane and Cathal Moran on the party’s election ticket in the new Athenry-Oranmore ward.
The party chose the three candidates at a selection convention this week for the 2014 Local Elections.
The new ward, which was created under the Government’s boundary revisions earlier this year, has seven seats, an increase of three from the old Oranmore Electoral Area in 2009.
The quota is 12.5 per cent, and with Fianna Fáil currently at 22 per cent in the polls, it has almost two quotas, meaning Cllr Noone has a strong chance of taking a seat and of perhaps bringing in a running mate.
FF will be operating a zonal strategy for the canvass. This will entail candidates covering specific areas of the ward to maximise the vote in that area. They will be expected not to encroach on their colleagues’ regions in order to prevent vote splitting.
As a result, Cllr Noone will represent the party in the Claregalway area; Martina Kinane will represent Clarinbridge/Oranmore; and Cathal Moran will cover Athenry.
The strategy requires internal party transfers and solid vote management to work. This will be important for FF as it is currently ‘transfer repellent’ in terms of attracting second, third, preferences, etc, from other parties.
