Fourth time the charm for SF’s O’Brien in city constituency

THERE were four seats for the taking in Cork North Central but the big winner was certainly Jonathan O’Brien, the Sinn Féin city councillor who after three hard-fought but unsuccessful general election campaigns finally got a Dáil seat for the party in Cork city.

O’Brien, a full-time Cork city councillor since 2000, is renowned for his work ethic and has built a steady base over the past 10 years in the urban working-class areas of the city.

However, this time around, he saw his support spread well beyond his North West ward (where incidentally he picked up 35% of the vote) and, according to tallies, he doubled his vote on last time in the county. For instance, in the Glanmire, Grenagh and Blarney areas of the county, tallies suggest he may have doubled and even trebled his vote. Without doubt, Mr O’Brien picked up a lot of outgoing Fianna Fáil TD, Noel O’Flynn’s old vote in the eastern end of the city and county.