16 Seats Filled In Clare County Council With Kilrush And Shannon To Be Decided Today – Clare FM

The majority of seats in the next Clare County Council chamber have been filled following a dramatic opening day at the count centre in Ennis.

Sixteen candidates have so far been elected, Ennis, Killaloe and Ennistymon and later today, the remaining twelve in Shannon and Kilrush will be decided.

Fine Gael’s Bill Slattery was the first to be elected after the exeeding the quota in the Ennistymon LEA by over 700 votes on the first count, meaning the Lahinch man regained the seat he lost in 2014.

Bodyke’s Joe Cooney was the next to be announced, in the Killaloe Municipal District and for the third election in a row, the Bodyke Fine Gael Councillor returned the strongest mandate countywide, claiming 27% of the first preference vote.

Pat Daly soon followed suit in Ennis, with the Fianna Fáil man exceeding by over 300 votes on count 1.

In Ennistymon, Fine Gael’s Joe Garrihy, and the Fianna Fáil duo of Shane Talty and Joe Killeen were the next to be elected, while incumbent Green Party Cllr Liam Grant finished 5th of the 9 candidates on the ballot, losing his seat.

In Killaloe, Fianna Fáil’s Pat Hayes was hoisted into the air on the second count,with party colleagues Alan O’Callaghan and Tony O’Brien soon following suit alongside Fine Gael’s Pat Burke.

Meaning that for the third election in a row, the voters of East Clare selected the same public representatives.

The final costituency decided on the opening day was Ennis, where Fine Gael’s Mary Howard and Paul Murphy retained their seats, alongside Fianna Fáil’s Clare Colleran-Molloy.

Making up the remaining seats in the municipal district, where first time candidates Fianna Fáil’s Antoinette Baker Bashua and Sinn Féin’s Tommy Guilfoyle.

Today, attentions turn to the Shannon and Kilrush Municipal Districts, where official counts are yet to get underway, however early tallies suggest first time Fianna Fáil candidates, Ardnacrusha’s Rachel Hartigan and Newmarket On-Fergus’ David Griffin will take seats.

With sitting Councillors Donna McGettigan, Pat O’Gorman , PJ Ryan and John Crowe along with former Senator Tony Mulcahy following closely behind.

In Kilrush, Fianna Fáil’s Rita McInerney is in line to top the poll, while incumbents Cllr Ian Lynch, Fianna Fáil’s Cillian Murphy, party colleague Michael Shannon and Independent Dinny Gould are the front runners so far.

Should it continue, the count will be pausing at 4pm for Clare’s Munster hurling Final against Limerick.

Clare FM will be providing election updates on the hour throughout the day, with a full live broadcast from the count centre.