John Mulholland, the former Galway city councillor and mayor, will not be contesting the Local Elections in May.
Mr Mulholland had been expected to throw his hat into the electoral ring, and stand in the now six seat Galway City West ward. He dramatically lost his seat in the 2009 locals to Hildegarde Naughton who has since been appointed to Seanad Éireann.
At a recent meeting of the Salthill branch of Fine Gael, Mr Mulholland informed party members he had decided not to stand. He said he had “enjoyed a good innings”, having served on the Galway City Council from 1985 to 2009 and as mayor in 1986 and 1996. He said it was now time to “make way for new and younger candidates”.
Fine Gael will be running Michelle Murphy, who was recently co-opted onto the council, in Galway City West. With recent opinion polls showing the party on 30 per cent, she should comfortably take the seat, given that the quota in a six seater is 14.3 per cent.
