New guns expected to come out blazing

THE number of seats up for grabs in this electoral area has increased from three to four a result of a boundary revision which saw the addition of Ballincollig.

And with that addition two big guns come into the equation – Mark O’Keeffe (FF) and Derry Canty (FG).

In the last local election (when they were in the Carrigaline electoral area) both men pulled in more than 3,000 first preferences votes each, predominantly from the Ballincollig area.

This will put them at a distinct advantage compared to those drawing fewer votes from scattered rural communities.

O’Keeffe may suffer a bit of a backlash. He’s the son of Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe and the father’s cuts have left a sour taste in the mouths of parents and teachers alike. However, there should still be plenty in the tank to get him across the finish line.

No doubt his father’s machine will be in overdrive to ensure this. Failure would be a huge embarrassment for Batt.

Derry Canty, a self-employed painter and decorator, has been a county councillor since 1991 and is an established figure who is expected to poll well. It would be a surprise if he didn’t bag one of the four seats.

His Fine Gael running mate is Michael Creed who was co-opted onto the council when his namesake cousin, Michael Creed, won a seat in the Dáil in the 2007 General Election.

Having the same name won’t do him any harm on the ballot paper. His cousin will pull out all the stops to get him elected and traditional vote management among FG candidates should ensure he gets back to County Hall without too much fuss.

Aindrias Moynihan, the only full-time councillor in the area, is flying the flag on the western side of the constituency for FF. His grandfather Jamie, a War of Independence hero, served as a county councillor from 1928-1970. Aindrias’ father, Donal, took over from 1970-2003 and then passed on the baton to his son.

There has been a Moynihan on the council for an astonishing 71 years and the prediction is there will still be one in County Hall for a few years to come.

Martin Coughlan looks to be facing a major uphill battle to retain the seat he won for Labour in 2004, beating off the challenge of FG’s Frank Metcalfe for the last seat.

The 51-year-old, who works as a supervisor for Macroom Town Council, got 1,393 first preferences five years ago, which is way off the vote-getting capacity of Creed, O’Keeffe, Moynihan and Canty.

Others in the race need a near miracle to upset the form book.

Des O’Grady is a first time candidate for Sinn Féin. A teacher at Coachford Community College, he lives in Farran. He’s likely to pick up a number of votes from young people, but in a very conservative constituency he’s unlikely to create history.

Jerry O’Sullivan, a 46-year-old farmer who lives in Ballingeary is contesting the election as an independent. He has an impressive CV, boasting a major from the City University of New York in communications, politics and law.

Mark Collins, a self-employed food quality and safety consultant who graduated at UCC, is flying the Green Party flag. He, too, is likely to be off the pace.