Council area profile/Roscommon: The future of Roscommon County Hospital and the need for investment in the county are likely to dominate the forthcoming elections across the county.
The 26-seat council is controlled by a Fine Gael/PD/Independent coalition, consisting of 12 Fine Gael councillors, two independents, and one Progressive Democrats councillor. They are opposed by nine Fianna Fáil councillors, and two Hospital Action Committee councillors. This time round, 56 candidates are running. In a sign of its intent, Fianna Fáil is running the largest number of candidates, with a total of 18. This is followed by Fine Gael (17), the Green Party (3), Sinn Féin (3), Labour (2) and the PDs (2).
The Roscommon electoral area may be the most hotly contested of all. It has three Fianna Fáil councillors, one Fine Gael and one Hospital Action Committee representative. The value of a family name in Roscommon is underlined by the fact that three relatives of outgoing councillors are running, all of whom are thought have a good chance of retaining their family seat, including Ms Orla Leyden, daughter of Senator Terry Leyden. The large numbers of non-EU workers in Roscommon town, and the tightness of the contest, has led some candidates to concentrate on encouraging them to register their votes.
If Fine Gael is to benefit from any backlash against the Government - and win overall control of the council - it needs to pick up two new seats. Ballaghaderreen is one area which may offer some scope to do this. As no PD candidate is standing in the area, change is guaranteed following the decision of current PD councillor, Mr Hugh Lynn, not to run.
The contest for the constituency's four seats is likely to be fierce, with 11 candidates declared. Fine Gael holds two seats, including council mayor, Mr John Connor, who is again expected to top the poll. Fine Gael's Mr Michael Creaton and Fianna Fáil's Mr Paul Lynch are expected to challenge strongly for Mr Lynn's seat. Another strong contender is non-party candidate Mr John Kelly.
There will be 11 non-party candidates in these elections, with four currently serving on the council. Of these, Cllr Tom Crosby, who topped the poll in 1999 in Strokestown, and Cllr Danny Burke, who performed similarly in Castlerea, are widely expected to retain their seats.
In the Athlone area, eight candidates will compete for five seats held by Fianna Fáil (3) and Fine Gael (2). These include Mr Trevor Finneran, son of outgoing TD Mr Michael Finneran (FF), who relinquished his seat as a result of the ban on the dual mandate, and Mr John Naughten, brother of Fine Gael TD, Denis.
The contest in Castlerea will be less intense, as only five candidates are fighting for three seats, currently held by Fine Gael (2) and one independent councillor, Cllr Danny Burke.
Three candidates from the Hospital Action Committee are contesting the election. Two of these, Ms Paula McNamara in Roscommon, and Ms Valerie Byrne in Strokestown, were co-opted onto the council following the deaths of Mr Tom Foxe, and Ms Byrne's late husband, Gene. Both women, who are sisters, are thought to have a strong chance of retaining their seats, although the third candidate, Mr Frank Geehan, faces an uphill battle in Boyle, a Fine Gael stronghold, where it currently has four of five seats.
Ms Rachel Doherty, daughter of former Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Seán Doherty, is likely to figure strongly here, and could even displace sitting Fianna Fáil councillor, Mr John Cummins.