Fianna Fáil’s Blackie Gavin has been selected to contest the 2009 town and county council elections by his local cumann.
Cllr Gavin, who currently sits on Castlebar Town Council, has shown great party loyalty over the years by standing back from county council elections and letting other candidates such as Iarla Duffy, Aidan Crowley and George O’Malley try their luck.
This time around the Fianna Fáil faithful will be putting his name forward for both authorities with the unanimous backing of the Castlebar Town Fianna Fáil Cumann. This will be his first time fighting for a county council seat but the popular Castlebar councillor will be confident of his chances once he has secured the party nomination at a selection convention.
A spokesperson for the Castlebar Town Fianna Fáil Cumann has confirmed that Cllr Gavin will go forward to convention to seek the party nomination and once the party candidates are selected the cumann have vowed to row in behind the party candidates during their election canvass.
An excited Cllr Gavin told the Mayo Advertiser this week that he has served his apprenticeship since first being elected to Castlebar Town Council in 1994. “I have been elected three times since. I have been Mayor of the town on three occasions and have been elected as Deputy Mayor for a fourth time.
“I stood back from the county council on two occasions in 1999 and 2004 and let other people go forward. The grassroots have now decided to put me forward to convention to seek a nomination and I look forward to meeting the delegates and looking for that nomination,” he said.
However, he is under no illusion about the task that lies ahead and the steps that need to be taken to secure the party nomination. “I have a good base here in the town. But I won’t be successful unless I get the country vote. I know a lot of country people in the organisation, and I know a lot of cumainn in country areas,” he told the Mayo Advertiser.
“It’s an exciting time for me. I’m looking forward to pressing the flesh and meeting the country people. I got 100 per cent backing from the meeting last night. This is a big step forward. I’m delighted they gave me the green light. My experience alone will stand to me,” he declared.
At Tuesday’s two-hour meeting at Lough Lannagh Holiday Village an open and frank debate also took place in relation to the contents of a letter from party General Secretary Sean Dorgan which contained proposals to cease the cumann operations. However, the cumann have rejected Mr Dorgan’s proposals a week after the Johnny Jordan Cumann came out in support of the amalgamation of the four Castlebar cumainn.
