FG defends strategy as Clune loses to party rival

FINE Gael has defended its three candidate strategy in Cork South Central which saw the party fail to win a third seat and lose its sitting TD, Deirdre Clune.

But despite the collapse in the Fianna Fáil vote, party leader Micheál Martin topped the poll, with his running mate, Michael McGrath, bucking the national trend and holding the party’s second seat.

Labour’s Ciarán Lynch also held his seat to leave the constituency as it was — two Fine Gael seats, two Fianna Fáil seats and one Labour — the only change being in Fine Gael personnel.

Mr McGrath put in an incredible performance to hold off the challenge of Sinn Féin’s Chris O’Leary, taking the fifth and final seat yesterday on the 12th count.

There was concern early on Saturday when figures with 70% of the boxes tallied showed Mr McGrath on just 5% in the city.

But he performed very strongly later when boxes from his Carrigaline base were opened.

It was an area he had said would be crucial for his political survival — and so it proved to be.

Green Party chairman Dan Boyle, who polled just over 1,600 first preference votes, was eliminated on the sixth count on Saturday.

However, despite Fine Gael’s record performance nationally, Ms Clune, a daughter of former tánaiste Peter Barry, was one of the few outgoing Fine Gael TDs to lose their seat. It is her second time to lose a Dáil seat, having lost it in 2002 but regained it in 2007.

Her constituency colleague Simon Coveney won the third seat yesterday morning, after picking up 341 votes from the distribution of Ciarán Lynch’s surplus.

And following the elimination of Ms Clune and the distribution of her votes on the 11th count, Mr Buttimer picked up over 4,600 votes pushing him to 13,096 and he took the fourth seat.

Mr Coveney, who upped his own vote to close to 15%, said he was relieved on a personal level but he said the party’s celebrations “were a little muted”.

Winning three of the five seats looked like a realistic target up until last week, he said. But the party was under pressure given Mr Martin’s presence in the constituency.

“But if you look at Fine Gael’s performance in south central, it’s hugely up on the last general election. We’re now the biggest party in south central.

“It’s a very successful day for the party but I do have huge sympathy for Deirdre Clune — she’s a colleague and a friend of mine.”

Mr Buttimer, who increased his own personal vote from around 8% in 2007 to 11%, also said the party was very close to winning three seats.

“We needed another 1,000 votes to win three seats and Micheál Martin becoming leader of Fianna Fáil changed the dynamics in south central,” he said.

Party insiders defended their strategy and said they need to run three candidates to win two seats.

The party also defended its vote management strategy where the candidates were given assigned areas in which to campaign during the last days before election day — the south side of the city and the south west of the constituency for Mr Buttimer, and the south east for Ms Clune.

The count in Cork South Central, where 17 candidates were running and which began at 9am on Saturday, concluded just before 2pm yesterday.

Mr Martin was elected on the first count on Saturday evening with a poll topping 10,715 first preference votes — just 41 votes over the quota.

“It’s been a very, very disappointing day for the Fianna Fáil party, with a significant reduction in our vote, and more importantly in the number of seats we have in the next Dáil,” he said.

“That said, having travelled the country in this campaign, I am confident that there is a base there and a framework to renew the party, and not to renew the party for its own sake, but to reengage and reconnect and restore the trust with the Irish people.”

Independents Eric Isherwood, Gerard Linehan, Finbarr O’Driscoll, Diarmaid Ó Cadhla, Sean Dunphy, Ted Neville, and David McCarthy, were all eliminated by the sixth count.

It was clear from early on that Ms Clune was in trouble — she polled 5,650 on the first count with Mr O’Leary on 5,250.

Independent city councillor Mick Finn polled an impressive 2,386 first preference votes and was eliminated on the seventh count.

Thanks to a voting arrangement between Mr Finn and Mr O’Leary, the Sinn Féin candidate picked up a massive 667 transfers on the eighth count, and 549 transfers from Mr Lynch two counts later.

There were no further elections into the early hours of Sunday morning and the count was suspended just after 3am on the ninth count, after the elimination of Labour’s Paula Desmond.

It resumed at 9am yesterday and following the distribution of her 4,127 votes, her party colleague Ciarán Lynch picked up 2,644 transfers and took the second seat.

Despite picking up 326 of Mr Lynch’s surplus — bringing her to 6,690 — Ms Clune was eliminated on the 10th count.

Mr Buttimer picked up a massive 4,686 from the distribution of her votes, pushing him over the line.

That left Michael McGrath, who polled 7,221 first preference votes on the first count, fighting it out with Mr O’Leary for the final seat going into the 12th count.

But it looked likely from earlier on that the outgoing Fianna Fáil TD would hold on.

He picked up 998 votes from the distribution of Mr Buttimer’s surplus, which was enough for him to hold his seat.

There were emotional scenes in the count centre as he was surrounded by his family, including his brother, and director of elections, Seamus, and his mother, Marie, who wept for joy.

“It was a very tough campaign. I’m delighted with the outcome.

“It’s about getting over the line — the style doesn’t really matter. It’s about holding the seat. The circumstances for all Fianna Fáil candidates were extraordinary.”