Longford profile: Fine Gael party bound to lose seats

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Local election results in Longford have for decades been as placid and soothing as the county’s gentle landscape. All of that could be about to change if the national surge in support for independents and Sinn Féin washes over into the county.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have so dominated Longford County Council elections that the big fluctuations in the national support for both parties have had little impact locally.

When Fine Gael was in the doldrums nationally in 2004, the party managed to win a majority of seats on the council. And when Fianna Fáil was taking a pasting on the national stage in 2009, the party’s vote in Longford dropped by less than 1 per cent.

In 2009, Fine Gael won 10 seats with 43 per cent of the vote while Fianna Fáil won eight with 34 per cent. Three seats went to Independents. Fine Gael ran the council with the support of Independent Paul Connell.

This time around the number of council seats has been cut from 21 to 18 and the number of electoral divisions from four to three, with each of the three areas electing six councillors. There are 34 candidates for those seats, 12 for Fine Gael, 10 for Fianna Fáil, nine Independents and three Sinn Féin.

Eight of the candidates are women.

When the reduction in seats is taken in tandem with the fact that Fine Gael has been in Government for the past three years, making some difficult and unpopular decisions, the party is bound to lose seats.

The only question is how many.

At best Fine Gael will be able to retain control of the council with the help of an Independent or two but there is a chance that an alternative alliance led by Fianna Fáil could seize control.

A third of the 21 councillors elected in 2009 won’t be contesting this time around. A third of the 21 councillors elected in 2009 won’t be on the ballot paper this time around, but many former councillors not running this time will have relatives in the field.

The boundary changes have also caused difficulties for all the parties, with the four old electoral divisions having been squeezed into three. It means that Fine Gael is running five candidates in the six-seat Granard electoral where it can realistically hope to win three at best.

Fianna Fáil has four candidates in this congested area, with newcomer John Coyle joining long-serving councillors Luie McEntire, PJ Reilly and Martin Mulleady.

Full list of candidates