Total poll: 14,949
Valid poll: 14,785
Quota: 2,113
Number of seats: 6
COUNT ONE
Burke Michael FG 1,396
Carty Michael FF 1,265
Connolly Tom FG 1,499
Cribbin John FG 1,981
Finn Richard Ind 1,817
McHale Gerard FF 672
McHugh Pat FF 925
O’Brien Patsy FG 2,760
Ryan Damien FF 1,375
Walsh Harry Ind 1,095
Patsy O’Brien elected. O’Brien’s surplus to be distributed next count.
COUNT TWO
Burke Michael FG 1,573 (+177 )
Carty Michael FF 1,274 (+9 )
Connolly Tom FG 1,590 (+91 )
Cribbin John FG 2,010 (+21 )
Finn Richard Ind 1,863 (+46 )
McHale Gerard FF 691 (+19 )
McHugh Pat FF 950 (+25 )
Ryan Damien FF 1,474 (+99 )
Walsh Harry Ind 1,247 (+152 )
Gerard McHale eliminated. McHale’s votes to be distributed next count.
COUNT THREE
Burke Michael FG 1,584 (+11 )
Carty Michael FF 1,373 +99 )
Connolly Tom FG 1,718 (+128 )
Cribbin John FG 2,030 (+20 )
Finn Richard Ind 2,028 (+165 )
McHugh Pat FF 1,107 (+157 )
Ryan Damien FF 1,515 (+41 )
Walsh Harry Ind 1,265 (+18 )
Pat McHugh eliminated. McHugh’s votes to be distributed next count.
COUNT FOUR
Burke Michael FG 1,609 (+25 )
Carty Michael FF 1,734 (+361 )
Connolly Tom FG 1,911 (+193 )
Cribbin John FG 2,141 (+111 )
Finn Richard Ind 2,219 (+191 )
Ryan Damien FF 1,648 (+133 )
Walsh Harry Ind 1,294 (+29 )
Richard Finn and John Cribbin elected. Harry Walsh eliminated. Walsh’s votes to be distributed next count.
COUNT FIVE
Burke Michael FG 1,999 (+390 )
Carty Michael FF 1,766 (+32 )
Connolly Tom FG 2,021 (+110 )
Ryan Damien FF 2,180 (+532 )
Damien Ryan elected. Michael Burke and Tom Connolly elected without reaching the quota. Michael Carty eliminated.
Boundary changes and poor strategy by Fianna Fáil saw the party lose two sitting councillors in the newly formed seven-seater Claremorris Electoral Area. There were always going to be casualties among the sitting councillors in this area after the boundary revision saw Ballinrobe and Claremorris areas merged with the loss of one seat, and it seems the government party was the one to suffer with Fine Gael picking up an additional seat in this area.
Michael Carty, who was eliminated in the fifth and final count in the early hours of Sunday morning, suffered badly from the boundary changes which saw him lose Aghamore and part of Tooreen where there were 500 votes. These were two areas from where he would have traditionally attracted huge support. Following the first count, Carty, who polled 1,265 first preference votes, lay in seventh position out of 10 candidates. On another day with the public support behind Fianna Fáil he would have been elected but on Saturday his own party’s transfers did not benefit him. He hung on until the end but eventually failed to secure the final seat after Harry Barrett’s transfers hugely benefited Michael Burke (FG ) and Damien Ryan (FF ).
The other casualty, Pat McHugh, from Ballindine, whose back was up against the Galway boundary, lost out largely due to poor strategy by his party which selected another candidate on his doorstep - Gerard McHale polled the lowest in the area with 672 first preferences on his first outing with McHugh securing 925. After count three McHugh benefited from 157 of McHale’s transfers with Independent candidate Richard Finn receiving 165. This was unfortunately not enough for McHugh who was eliminated, with his party colleague Michael Carty benefiting the most from his demise. But it was not enough to elect Carty who was the party’s second casualty.
The good news story in the Claremorris area was certainly awarded to Fine Gael which took four of the six available seats. Patsy O’Brien from the Hollymount area received a massive first preference 2,760 votes to top the poll and see him easily elected with a surplus of 649 votes. He is now joined in this new-look electoral area with party colleagues John Cribbin (who reached the quota ), and Tom Connolly and Michael Burke (who failed to reach the quota ).
They will be joined by one Fianna Fáil councillor, Damien Ryan, who was on tenterhooks for much of the count, and whose position looked precarious until Walsh’s elimination. Ryan then picked up 532 transfers to see him safely re-elected ahead of Michael Burke who received 390 of Walsh’s transfers.
The two newcomers to the Claremorris electoral area are not actually newcomers, with both Independent candidate Richard Finn and Fine Gael’s Michael Burke having lost their seats in 2004. Both men returned this time and will be enjoying the sweet taste of victory having made a successful comeback, the first time in more than 50 years that any candidate has lost his seat from Mayo County Council and was re-elected at a subsequent election.
While it was Independents’ day across the county, sitting councillor Harry Walsh bucked this trend in south Mayo by losing his seat.
But it was Patsy O’Brien’s time to celebrate. He told the Mayo Advertiser he was “thrilled” to be back representing the people of Claremorris and Ballinrobe with an overwhelming mandate from the electorate. “I stood for fair play and equity, honesty and transparency,” said the outspoken councillor who vowed to continue to fight for his area’s fair share of the council’s resources. Some of the main projects he will be focusing on in the coming months are the Ballinrobe by-pass, town development plan, Bower’s Walk, and Ballinrobe civic amenity centre.
Claremorris Electoral Area
Patsy O’Brien FG
Tom Connolly FG
John Cribbin FG
Michael Burke FG
Richard Finn Ind
Damien Ryan FF
FG-4, Ind-1, FF-1
