It’s beginning to get really exciting now as election fever takes over.
New candidates are emerging out of the woodwork and old candidates are changing their affiliations from their former parties and developing independent streaks.
Several new candidates have been announced and several old party stalwarts have decided that they are to run as independents this year as opposed to with their party.
Fianna Fail has announced the first Polish candidate to ever run for Kilkenny, 26-year-old Anna Michalska.
Joan Murphy of Graiguenamanagh has decided to run as an independent this time around as has Anne Blackmore of the Piltown Electoral Area leaving Fianna Fail in a much weakened position with two of their popular party members going it alone.
Eugene McGuinness is creating quite a stir by announcing that he is considering running as an independent in opposition to his brother Minister John McGuinness and nephew Andrew McGuinness. This will not go down well with the McGuinnesses who have traditionally been a Fianna Fail family for decades.
Well known Kilkenny Castle employee Frank Kavanagh of Walkin St, Kilkenny city, has put his name into the hat on an independent ticket stating parking charges and security at the post offices in the city as some of the issues he will be campaigning on.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fail has announced five candidates for Kilkenny Borough Council this time around including three sitting councillors, Andrew McGuinness, John Coonan, and Joe Reidy. The two new candidates who will be attempting to bump up the city council seat count are Anna Michalska and former PD campaigner and Army officer, and Joe Malone who recently retired from the Army to contest the local election.
Sitting councillor Michael Lanigan is not running this time around and the party will be hoping to retain this seat with one of the new candidates.
Meanwhile there is unrest in the Ballyragget electoral area as Fianna Fail has as of yet failed to choose candidates for the area for the county council.
The electoral area is understood to be the subject of an opinion poll in Fianna Fail’s bid to nominate its candidates.
Former Fianna Fail Councillor Martin Carroll has already taken his name out of the ring in protest at the selection process which has been somewhat different to that of the other electoral areas. He has not yet ruled out running as an independent leaving Fianna Fail in a precarious position in Thomastown, Piltown, and Ballyragget as a result of independents.
Mr Carroll was unhappy with the party decision to go with an interview process. He reluctantly entered into this process believing it to be undemocratic and said that he was shocked to discover that candidates have already been decided for Piltown, Thomastown, and Kilkenny city electoral areas but that the Ballyragget area is to be subject to an ‘opinion poll’ before a decision can be taken. He is concerned that this would seem to indicate some sort of outside interference with the recommendation of the interview panel whose decisions were not questioned in the other areas, and that it places whoever is successful in the process at a severe disadvantage in that the opposition parties have started their election campaigns already.
So lots going on along the election trail and it’s only the end of February! I foresee a lot more of the same to come. Competition this year is huge for both city and county councils. Betty Manning has also announced that she is to run for the county council, and being the popular councillor that she is, is expected to do very well.
It is all to play for and I think we will see some skin and hair flying over the coming months!
Bring it on - it will give us something else to talk about besides the ‘R’ word!
