Local elections: Everything you need to know about Skibbereen-West Cork constituency

Tue, 04 Jun, 2024 - 01:00

Noel Baker

With more than a dozen candidates scrapping it out for five seats, Skibbereen-West Cork local electoral area (LEA) promises to be one of the most competitive constituencies when the votes are cast next month.

The issues on the doorsteps are hardy perennials, from roads and housing to access to disability support services and aggrieved farmers, even if there are distant rumblings in some quarters about migration, not least when it comes to the change-of-use of some hotels in what is still a major tourist destination. And it’s fair to say that electoral expectations centre around many of the familiar faces who will seek to return to County Hall when all the votes are counted.

As in 2019, Fianna Fáil is running three candidates this time around. Sitting councillors Joe Carroll of Skibbereen, and Dunmanway-based Deirdre Kelly will be expected to poll well; Kelly was drafted into the council in 2020 when Christopher O’Sullivan — who had topped the poll in 2019 — was elected to Dáil Éireann, but she had polled more than 1,000 first preferences of her own. The duo are joined by party colleague Padraig O’Reilly — a former Mayor of Clonakilty and a former Red Cross Volunteer of the Year — who can be expected to gather a significant number of votes in his own area, although this may be complicated by the presence of a well-regarded Independent candidate Humphrey Deegan, a former Fine Gael town councillor.

And it’s in Fine Gael where there is a level of intrigue. Last time out, the party also ran three candidates and secured just one seat — and that isn’t theirs any more. Councillor Karen Coakley was elected on the 10th count but left the party in 2022 amid claims of “skullduggery” and that her own electoral efforts in the 2020 general election had been seriously undermined. The situation seemed to highlight a level of dysfunction in Fine Gael at local level, and a general sense that it couldn’t get out of its own way.

Coakley, a former Skibbereen mayor and now an independent, will want to keep her seat but it promises to be a serious contest. Noel O’Donovan, a former Fine Gael councillor who then quit politics to join An Garda Siochána, is back in civilian clothing and looking to secure a seat ahead of a possible tilt at the Dáil in the upcoming general election. The 35-year-old is based in the Clonakilty-Rosscarbery area, while running mate Brendan McCarthy is anchored in Skibbereen.

Back in 2020, some 500 people signed a petition demanding O’Donovan be added to the general election ticket in a move which prompted consternation from Ms Coakley, who had already been added alongside Tim Lombard.

Fast forward to the general election proper and Fine Gael was left without a seat in West Cork for the first time in more than 50 years. If O’Donovan is seen as the most likely candidate to seriously challenge in the next national poll, he will be expected to secure a council seat with the minimum of fuss.

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Also in the mix is sitting Independent councillor Declan Hurley, a dairy farmer from Dunmanway who was third past the post in 2019 and will be looking to perform as well if not better this time around, and the Sinn Féin candidate Donnchadh Ó Seaghdha, vying to keep the seat won for the party last time out by the much-admired Paul Hayes, who also subsequently left the party.

The Courtmacsherry man was popular locally but could not gain enough momentum when it came to general elections, though his transfers famously helped propel Holly Cairns into Leinster House back in 2020. Ó Seaghdha stepped in after Michael McCarthy — previously selected by Sinn Féin to contest the LEA — had to step back for health reasons, Hayes always had a strong personal vote and with the party already having selected Clare O’Callaghan, running in neighbouring Bandon/Kinsale, as its candidate in the next general election, it’s this seat that seems up for grabs.

As for the Social Democrats, with the party polling well nationally, its candidate Isobel Towse will be hoping to pull a surprise, just as her party leader did back in 2019. From Sherkin Island, the University College Cork graduate is based between Clonakilty and Rosscarbery, a similar patch to Labour’s Evie Nevin, now the only Labour candidate in West Cork and who secured a respectable 500-plus votes back in 2019 — when she ran for the Social Democrats. She is a prominent local activist, particularly in the area of disability.

One final unknown element is the presence of Daniel Sexton, the ‘Collins Candidate’, running for Independent Ireland under leader Michael Collins TD. Unlike Danny Collins, expected to top the poll in Bantry, and John Collins, running for the party in Bandon/Kinsale, Sexton’s relative lack of profile could count against him in what is a crowded field. But this is West Cork — so who knows.

Who is running?

Joe Carroll – FF

Karen Coakley – Ind

Lorraine Deane – Aon

Humphrey Deegan – Ind

Declan Hurley – Ind

Rory Jackson – GP

Deirdre Kelly – FF

Brendan McCarthy – FG

Evie Nevin – LP

Noel O’Donovan - FG

Barry O’Mahony - Ind