Tales from the canvas 2014

Doesn’t seem like 5 years since I first used this title to get across the mood of a local election, but while times move on the local elections are always about personalities and local issues.  It’s not about changing a government it’s about how your community is run. 

Local elections are the food and drink of a local community, none more so than to a local paper.   Elections are often seen not just as a huge potential for extra advertising but also extra sales. While  candidates compete for votes, editors who have been quietly nursing their egos in tandem with the electoral cycle are also shaping up to do battle.  And to tell the truth these men of letters (not that they print too many from their readers) leave many a candidate in the halfpenny place.

The real stars of a low profile local elections campaign so far this year in Wexford have been without a doubt, the local papers, They have been following a clear strategy of ignoring many candidates press releases but simultaneously sending candidates rate cards for advertising.  It used to be the case that a local papers job was to report news  and views.  If you are a councillor you have at least some chance and a profile.  If you are not then tough! Of all the elections I’ve been involved in I’ve rarely seen so little coverage of the candidates.   Is it that if you want publicity for any issue, you can forget it?

 Regardless of whether a candidate has good news or bad news you can keep it for yourself unless you are going to pay for an ad. I can count on the fingers of one hand the times in the last 3 months I’ve read anything about a new candidate. My own colleague Bernie Mullen is a case in point. She works hard in Rosslare, has been knocking doors for months but you don’t read about her because somewhere between the reporters keyboards and the paper being set, she seems to disappear.

And it’s not as if there isn’t a shortage of publications. 2 local papers and one free sheet were the staple for many years. Let me declare an interest here, I write a column for one new free sheet “The Weisfjord Newspaper and Advertiser” which launched in December.  Last week 2 were launched; “The Chronicle” owned and managed by Ger Walsh formerly of a local paper and mysteriously on the same day “The Co Wexford Reporter” which looks remarkably like one of the local papers and which is, according to those in the know, a spoiler to undermine “The Chronicle”.  If you think that politicians are the only ones that fall out, think again. It seems us public representatives are only trotting behind the bruised egos in publishing.   As far as I know no new journalist has been taken on by any newspaper so presumably extra productivity or old pictures are delivering the “news”.  One wide of the mark headline already suggests the end of rail services to Wexford,  Not on my watch!

All great for the readers and the letter boxes of the town as election material competes with newspapers for the attention of the few in the town with an interest in current affairs. As one wag on the doorstep said to me; “My dog is having a field day as he waits by the letter box for the next paper for him to drop in for him to chew up”.   As a consequence I’m knocking doors and handing the election material into the voter’s hands.

There is of course the alternative of publishing online.  Is it any wonder that more and more people are going online to get their news first? It gives the reader the chance to find out what is really going on and to get behind the news and even the newspaper itself?  And there is the chance that you just might find out online what some of the candidates at the local election really think!

And So they're off!

Believe it or not there is slightly more than 100 days left to polling in the local elections.  You wouldn’t think it given the weather we have. Polling will be on Friday May 23^rd. So at this stage you’d expect all the parties to have nominated and have their candidates up and run

Well , not quite so. Labour and Sinn Fein have nominated candidates in Wexford while the big two Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are evidently taking the scenic route to putting  a full team out on the pitch.  Add to that the number of independents who are likely to be on the ballot paper. Some have dropped out already, others have yet to decide. I’ve always wondered what Independent really means? Is it someone only interested in serving their community, or disgruntled at what a former party might have done?

Clearly the electorate aren’t interested in political ego’s and hobby horses.  What strikes me from knocking doors is that people are happy to engage on local issues. They want representation in their council.  They also want vision and are fed up listening to negativity.  The electorate accepts that councillors have no input in government policy, as one woman said to me recently “No party is popular but at least we see our councillor”. However a councillor for a government party is in a better position to go and set out problems to a minister than an opposition councillor can be.

And there’s the rub. All politics is local but not all local politics is based on national issues. There are plenty of local issues in Wexford politics that have moved off the political agenda in the last 3 years. The future of Wexford’s General Hospital is secure since early in the governments term, it was secured by Brendan Howlin and its future was the key election issue in 2011.  The announcement by the government before Christmas of more SNA’s removes another area of concern in Wexford.  Extra jobs for Wexford at Eischtec, Wexford Creamery, as well as projects like the new school builds, garda station will at least stabilise the local economy at what has been a time of national crisis.

So what about the future? That is what an election is supposed to be about! Some people will have you think  they want a re-run of the 2011 General Election (often people who opposed re-running referenda, but let’s pass on that one!)  

How can it be different? It’s the manifesto that sets out what the party will do when elected.  I genuinely believe that a local election is more important than a national election. That’s because more people have the right to vote and the councillor is more accessible and their impact more immediate. So it should be about how Wexford can maintain its position as the primary town in the county and how this can continue given that it will lose its council. It’s time we woke up to this and moved past the petty predictable guff that passes for politics in Wexford town.  

So let’s spell out how you can significantly transform Wexford. Merge the 2  IT’s in Carlow and Waterford into a university and base a school of it in Wexford.  We know that if you have a university you can base industries around it.  Provide the basis for Rosslare Europort to compete as a major container port on the national stage and use all the transport infrastructure to open it out, road and rail. Balance that in rural areas with the restoration of the beet industry and you have a rejuvenated Wexford developing in a sustainable way that is better able to withstand a slump than the old model which was built primarily on speculation and construction. It was a model I always felt was unsustainable. We can build a better Wexford one that can last regardless of outside economic shocks.

At the hustings

It’s exactly 10 years ago since I was first elected by Labour members to stand in the local elections.  Getting selected early was a great advantage in winning a seat.  At the time I was relatively unknown and had a job to do. Being selected meant I could get out and get organised.  Being selected is the easy bit, you’ve still got to find your vote.  So ten years on,  with a significantly different local authority and election ahead old ways what worked well then will still work today, other parties will have their own strategy.

Our ticket is significantly different to 2004. Ted Howlin is retiring from the council. Ted has been the cornerstone of the Labour Party in the council or years.  A rock of good sense and a cool head in the middle of a storm.  He first stood for election in 1974, the Howlin name has been on the ballot paper for 70 years in Wexford.  This election will see household names in Wexford missing from the ballot paper as others make up their minds on whether to stand or not. Fine Gael’s Pat Codd is the latest to retire as boundaries have taken his voters away from Wexford District. Padge Reck has also indicated he’s not going to stand.

Current Mayor George Lawlor who needs no introduction to anyone interested in politics in Wexford, joins me on the Labour ticket along with Bernie Mullen from Rosslare Harbour.  Bernie is active in TOPS as well as being involved in the maritime museum in the Harbour. She has a good base that has no current councillor. She’ll do well.

There is a lot of optimism in the Labour camp about our chances in Wexford District.  Selection conferences will be held in each of the other wards before Christmas as our team goes into action.  So more later on that.  Ger Carthy the son of the late Leo Carthy has also announced his intention to stand while People Before Profit/Socialist Workers Party selected Deirdre Wadding.  Another candidate who had previously declared has already withdrawn so the field is not yet clear and there will be I’m sure comings and goings to the political field for 2014. One thing’s for sure swords will be crossed!

The response on the doorstep is quite surprising. The perception that Labour candidates are being blamed and abused as Fianna Fail were during the general election is wide of the mark from my experience. The anger and the shame of the breaking of our country by Fianna Fail is still there, in my experience that is greater than any negativity towards Labour.  I envy those with the time to take the electorate for granted and who predict Labour will be wiped out with no TD’s and just 45 councillors. Nobody has voted yet.  

3 Long days journey into night ends but what have we learnt?.

Relief at last! 3 days and over 2 hours after the polls closed the campaign is over. The long wait ended in success. I think I’m the last Labour councillor elected in the country in the local elections of 2009. Dun Mhuire Theatre in Wexford has seen many’s a drama down through the years but there’s been little in the last few days to compare with the ebb and flow of political fortune as votes for Wexford Borough Council were counted at Dun Mhuire.
On Sunday evening Davy Hynes was elected Wexford’s seventh councillor. After midnight on Tuesday morning I was elected as the 8th member. There’s 4 more to join me. The picture shows me being hoisted up by Labour supporters.
It was a biter sweet moment for me as my election was only secured off the back of transfers from my running mate Theresa Walsh who was eliminated after 2 re-counts. This took over 24 hours to establish.
Theresa had fought long and hard and I was very sorry to see her go out. She can be rightly proud of the campaign she fought and the work she did. Theresa lost a week canvassing early on due to a heavy cold. She put in a great performance in the local radio election debate. She’s a great candidate and she’ll be back. The picture of the box shows the moment when her transfers to me actually put me above the quota. Someday, it'll be Theresa getting the votes needed to elect her.

The obligatory shoulder hoist was captured for me by my sons who I’m delighted to have at the count. Being elected to any body once is an honour and privilege. I think the officials tried their best but it’s clear that the town has outgrown the unitary ward model and that we need wards back again. There were too many candidates and too many seats. The ballot paper was so big that I saw it slide off a narrow ledge in a polling station. In those circumstances how could you see my name on a ballot paper as I was third last alphabetically and what chance had the voter to see Walsh, the last of 23 names when the ledge is so narrow?
There’s another side to the long count, the officials who’re still counting on as I type should be in work Tuesday doing the business that they normally do. Instead they’re trying to make the unworkable work. I believe that its time to return to wards within Wexford. Only Wexford, Kilkenny and Clonmel have 12 seat constituencies. The effect of our boundary extension brings extra voters, more candidates and more time wasting. Perhaps going back to the past may solve a problem for 2014? In the meantime spare a thought for the remaining 5 candidates I left beihind in the wee small hours to battle it out for the 4 remaining seats.

Wexford counts and counts and counts…….

Candidates for Wexford Borough Council can look forward to at least another day of counting at Dún Mhuiré. Day 2 has just ended and we’ve elected just 7 candidates. There remains 5 more seats, one of which I’m a contender for. On Saturday I shuddered when I heard one candidate had a surplus of 1 as it brought back memories of 2004. In that election the one vote fell to my colleague Tommy Carr who won by a single vote on the Tuesday morning. Wexford Borough was the third last count to conclude in 2004 and true to form the count is progressing slowly. To be fair to the officials, they have not just to be fair but to be seen to be fair.
The Green Party has brought a barrister to scrutinise the count. He arrived Sunday morning after the Greens announced on RTE Radio that a recount was in progress in Wexford. This is because the party is anxious to be seen winning something, or at least, having something to fight for at a time when the Green Party is imploding. Deputy Leader Mary White is on hand also. The Greens may reflect a later stage as to where the party hierarchy were during the campaign as they could have raised their candidate’s profile.
The count has reached a crucial stage. 3 candidates are involved in a tussle. DoDo Lawlor, (Ex-Labour), Danny Forde (Green Party) and Theresa Walsh (Labour) are within a few votes of one another at about 360. Whoever is the lowest will face elimination. One of the trio will benefit from the transfer and possibly be elected. At about 440 stands Fianna Fail’s Paddy Nolan. Next come 2 Fine Gael candidates and finally myself on 552 just 45 votes short of the quota. Tonight we had a re-check of the candidtes votes.
I was asked if I had any hurry out of the theatre as they’ve a booking for a play in Thursday next and I replied that they didn’t need a play because they’ve a drama running at the minute! The hall is booked until Wednesday so I’m expecting the interest in this one to run.

Check out my Youtube Channel Menapia1 for video of Town Clerk Pat Collins giving the first count

Wexford Decides 2009, Labour gains

This morning in Dun Mhuire the ballot boxes were opened and the counting started. I was there for 9 and the first of the votes tumbled from the boxes. The tallymen set to work with their forecasts as to how the result might pan out. The picture is of counting and checking in progress. Last night after polls close the Labour candidates met to pour over how things went. I thought turnout could have been better. On our analysis the newer parts of town didn’t come out to the same extent as older more established parts.
On the available tallies today I’m happy that I’ve increased my vote beyond 2004 and that I’ll be re-elected. What really excites me is that George Lawlor will top the poll and that he will also take a seat in the County Council. Even better news is that Pat Cody will certainly take a seat on Enniscorthy Town Council and Bobby Ireton is looking good for a County seat in Gorey. Ollie Sommers is polling well in New Ross but there’s still a long way to go there. I hate to say I told you so but if you look at my blog I did forecast these results. Theresa Walsh also looks set to take Tommy Carr’s seat. This has been a remarkable election for Labour, its likely that we may come out of it with a minimum of 3 county councillors and 9 Borough or Town Councillors. Lets see what happens on later counts.

The final countdown to polling day.

It’s the kiss of death for any candidate and last week I was given it. A local newspaper described me as being unpopular with my colleagues but virtually certain to be re-elected. It’s like the vote of confidence by the board in the soccer manager. 5 years ago the same paper was luke warm about me at this stage.
I don’t mind the bit about being unpopular with colleague councillors, I’m not clubbable and never set myself out to be. If you do, you can sometimes compromise yourself. I rarely socialise with other councillors after meetings because I prefer to get home and get the children’s school lunches ready. When you’ve a young family you have to have priorities. What actually hurts me is the “virtually certain” bit. That can easily make for complacency among voters and personally. Otherwise I think the profile was fair, an editor has a hard job. He’s got to be objective all the time. A journalist who deals with councillors on a regular basis develops a relationship. Not so the editor. Rightly Editors and politicians shouldn’t be friends. I’ve never met the editor of this paper, I know Tom Mooney from the opposition Echo to see and in 5 years may have spoken to him twice, never about his paper. I’ve found the local papers to be in the round fair. If they’ve given you a sting one week they may well make it up to you another time.
When you compare the relationships in Wexford to that between Aonghus Faning and Bertie Ahern there’s no comparison. Faning has lambasted FF but comes on side for elections to ensure his stable of writers push the middle class buttons to deliver for FF. He’s a little like a mongrel ignoring his owner until he knows the bowl is going to be filled with dogfood. It’s why I don’t buy the Sunday Independent. I admire Ryan Tubridy for saying he doesn’t read it also. A mixture of opinion with news is attractive but damages the value of the writing as it elevates the writer to the role of a player in the news. Should this be allowed? Ryan’s reward for being candid was to get it on the neck the following Sunday!
Since I started this blog I felt it was about opinion based on facts that were established elsewhere. My political own motives are apparent and my agenda will either be endorsed or rejected on Friday . That’s what makes the real poll different to an opinion piece that I’m virtually certain of anything. The real rather than the virtual world means I account to the public ultimately not to an Editor.

Campaign notes from the south east

With less than 2 weeks to go, and from my point of view 50 weeks gone the finishing post is within sight. There’s been a good response to our campaign not just in Wexford but more importantly in Enniscorthy. It’s been 10 years since Labour last held a seat there. Local newspapers are suggesting that Labour will gain a seat there at the expense of Fianna Fail. Pat Cody and Francis O’Connor are our candidates there and they are doing a really good job at shaking up politics there. That will be significant as it will effectively change the balance of power on the council in the backyard of a former Junior Minister.
There are subtle changes since 2007. There are more people at home by day, less out, working more at home. One phenomenon that I remember from the 2007 General Election was the number of houses where there were builders boots outside the front door. I remember that if you saw just dirt on the doorstep you could conclude that the builders were out. I commented on that at the time to Brendan Howlin and soon we watched for houses with Polsat satellite dishes. Further evidence of a builders who probably had no vote and were non national. A sign of the times we’re in is that there’s much less sight of boots at the door now.
I debated on South East Radio on Friday morning with Ger Walsh Independent, Barbara Anne Murphy & Martin Murphy (FF) and Anna Fenlon (FG). It was a very civilised affair as each candidate was asked about their own area. In reality the issues in an urban area like Wexford can be significantly different to Bunclody or Campile and their rural hinterland. We all took up our party’s view on the economy. Ger Walsh surprised me by saying he was opposed to bank nationalisation. As someone who had previously spent some time in the Labour Party where nationalisation would be favoured I reflected on how far he moved in political terms.
National issues are raising themselves on the doorstep but there are local issues like potholes, schools or as may surface soon Wexford General Hospital. It seems that the HSE is planning to limit out of hours A&E cover after 12 midnight. This would require people needing emergency medical attention to go to either Loughlinstown or Waterford both hospitals with their own catchments and populations to cover. So now under the Greens and Fianna Fail you can queue 24 hours around the clock in a hospital. I’m aghast that this is a runner especially at election time, surely anyone with a political bone in their body would know not to propose this in the middle of an election.
There’s nothing like a diversion from politics especially in the middle of an election and nothing better than a family celebration. Sunday sees our daughter’s First Communion. I’ve taken a break over the week-end from the campaign so as to prepare for it. Once its over its back to work on the stump. Lets go!

Wexford’s local election campaign now in full swing

Today the election campaign turned a corner. Nominations closed at noon. I was the first candidate to lodge my nomination papers last Monday as I’d to rush back to class ahead of my 4 Labour colleagues lodging their papers! The response this week continues to be positive to our campaign. We’ve covered the north end of town and each evening voters tell us how they’re glad its not FF or the Greens who’re calling. The only issue is the collapse in the economy resulting from FF & the PD’s mismanagement and the Greens now riding shotgun on board the Cowen express. All other issues are secondary. Fine Gael are behaving like the cat that’s got the cream but we’ll see about that in 3 weeks time.

In Wexford Borough there are 23 candidates declared for 12 seats, 5 Labour, 4 FF, 4 FG, 2 SF, a Green and 7 independents. In 2004 there was just 19 candidates with a quota of 535 votes from a turn-out of just 50% in the urban area. As someone pointed out to me, e-voting machines provided for just 15 candidates, what would have happened in the event of the number of candidates exceeding the number of options on the machine? There’s plenty of choice and I think that the increase in candidate number will bring out extra voters. There are significant changes since 2004.

The boundary of the council has been increased to include all lands inside the by-pass and about 1 mile north of Wexford Bridge towards Ardcavan. The functional area of the council provides for 20,000 people with an electorate of 15,000. Wexford is quite unique in that there are no wards and the entire town is 12 seater constituency. If a similar turn out of 50% occurs in 2009 the quota will be about 580. I expect a higher turn-out than in 2004. I think the quota will be close to 600 if not greater. This may surprise some of the candidates. Heretofore candidates relied on family networks to deliver votes but as family size has dropped and quota climbs the old way of winning may not be the sure-fire winner it once was.
Today Nessa Childers was back in town. Poor weather resulted in less people walking the streets so Nessa met with St Jospeh’s Community Youth Group before canvassing in Tesco and Pettits Supervalu. Nessa got a very positive response from voters and I think the Wexford welcome put a spring in her step as she returned to Dublin and further positive polls showing that she could win a seat in the European Parliament. However lets remember no one has voted yet, there’s still 3 weeks to go. If a week is a long time in politics what does that make 3 weeks? It’s time to get the heads down and work in for 3 more weeks. The election is only warming up and doesn’t end until June 5th at 10 PM. It’s only then we can count the votes not now!

Brian Cowen slipped into town to throw his weight behind the Fianna Fail campaign. Senator McDonald was visible in support of her man and Fianna Fail’s Bobby O’Neill marshalled his supporters as shops closed on Main St to escort the Taoiseach past the few curious on-lookers catching a glimpse of the Taoiseach on the day satisfaction with his government slumped to 10%. Conspicuous in their absence were many faces I’d associate with Fianna Fail in Wexford however I’m sure there are other reasons for that other than the fact that Fianna Fail’s local election campaign in Wexford is in a shambles. 2 FF candidates have no posters up yet and one is reported to be outside the state for the next week.

Tales from the Canvass

Another week over and the feedback towards Labour in Wexford has been very positive. My experience is similar to what I hear back from other parties not just here but throughout the country. Everyone on the doorstep wants to talk about the national picture. As a councillor I handled more local issue during Brendan Howlin’s 2007 General Election campaign by this stage than I’ve put through the council on my own behalf by now. The national issues are by now the key ones, anyone who says that local elections are all about local issues have missed the key shift and irony that the General Elections of ’02 &’07 may have seen local matters decide national government but now national matters will now decide local government.
We traditionally start our joint campaign at May Day weekend and this time round it was no different. There’s been a strongly positive reaction to our ticket. Its great to go to a door and have people come out to you address you by your first name and say yes they’re voting for Labour candidates. Today I met a local who’s involved in a free sheet paper. He cast a cold eye on our ticket and told me what he thought. He says feedback says we won’t win 5. I reminded him that at this stage 5 years ago his free sheet wrote me off in the contest. I recall that in 2004 at this stage of the election they produced a poll that gave me no chance and said that Ted Howlin was in trouble. The result of course was very different. I asked could they possibly print that I was in trouble this time? For some reason he changed the topic of conversation.
In Wexford the missing guest at the party is Fianna Fail, where are there candidates and their campaign? FG, Labour and SF posters are all up and their candidates out for some weeks now but just one Councillor Fergie Kehoe has his posters up which makes no mention of his running mates in the town because FF have as yet not finalised their ticket even though nominations open just for one week from today. I’ve met with Fergie canvassing and another FF candidate crossed my path the other evening but didn’t recognise me, presumably punch drunk at 7.10 after an early evening buffeting from the voters on Kennedy Park. The local media doesn’t carry one press release from the once great party just 4 weeks before polling. Fergie is a man I respect and who deserves to be elected on the back of his visibility since FF agonised as to his selection as a county councillor. The liberating thing about being a candidate however is that the decision isn’t mine, and I’m entitled to prevaricate on the doorstep, that’s if I’m at home at all!
FG on the other hand has a clear wind behind it. That’s obvious as many of their posters put up on Wednesday have already suffered from the gales. Many have already remarked on how FG has embraced technology because some of their candidates look visibly younger than comparable posters from 2004! Fine Gael is guaranteed 2 seats on our council but I wouldn’t rule out a third seat at all given the national mood.
Sinn Fein have 2 candidates outgoing councillor Anthony Kelly and Ann Hogan. 5 years ago Anthony was partnered by Ard Chomhairle member David Forde. David ran a very high profile campaign and the town was covered with posters from an early stage. By comparison with ’04 SF has less to shout about now. Sadly David Forde died at an early age about 18 months after the last local elections. SF in Wexford has had their internal difficulties in the past few months and I suspect they might have been handled differently had David still been alive.
The Green Party are running Danny Forde, a relation of David who missed out by just one vote in 2004. Despite loosing by a single vote for the last seat 5 years ago the expected Green onslaught on Wexford hasn’t materialised, no sign of Minister Gormley walking the streets of the town that will headquarter his department in ’09 with Forde on his shoulder. The count in 2004 was the third last to finish nationally after successive recounts. Given the Green lethargy so far, there’s little likelihood of late nights now in the south east in 2009.

That leaves just independents. Last time around there was just 3 now there’s 7. In reality there’s less support for independents now in national opinion polls as opposed to 2004. Could more than 2 be elected? Its doubtful, Could there be a change in faces on the independent side? I don’t know. Many independents fancy themselves as riding roughshod on Fianna Fail and in some cases they’re Fianna Failer’s who’ve funked the party. An added problem for independents is that there are more looking for recognition from a diverse grooup of voters. I've always thought that while a voter may declare for an independent that there's a problem for the independent candidate in that it automatically doesn't follow that soem one who considers themselves independent and to the left will vote for a candidate who's independent and to the right. A vote for an independent may turn out to be a vote for FF.
Lets be honest about elections and being a candidate, you get involved in your own campaign, if something happens elsewhere, unless it impacts in Wexford Borough, it’s not very important. Overall one vote isn’t just important, but as I found out 5 years ago one vote counts!

Local Election Campaign Wexford ‘09

Our official campaign to retain 5 seats on Wexford Borough Council starts this Tuesday. It’s a bigger job now than 5 years ago, then there were less candidates and a smaller area, now there’s more candidates and an area the size of the functional area of Cork City Council and 20,000 residents with 15,000 almost on the register. Myself, Ted Howlin, George Lawlor, Davy Hynes and SIPTU South East Vice Chairperson Theresa Walsh will carry the flag for Labour. Fianna Fail have yet to finalise their team with less than 5 weeks to go to polling but my sources in the party tell me that Cllr Paddy Nolan, Church Sacristan Colin Murphy and Cllr Fergie Kehoe will have 2 running mates in retired TD, school Principal and Barntown resident Tony Dempsey as well as publican and businessman Bobby O’Neill. FG will run outgoing councillors Anna Fenlon, Phil Roche with popular traffic warden Pat Sheridan and businessman Jim Allen. Sinn Fein run Ann Hogan alongside outgoing member Anthony Kelly while Danny Forde of the Greens will be hoping to gain a seat after losing by just one vote after 3 days of counting in 2004 to my Labour colleague Tommy Carr.
The pressure will be on Independent Fianna Fail Councillor Padge Reck to top the poll one more while newcomer Willie Furlong will have his first outing after being co-opted to replace his father a year ago. There will be at least 2 other independents; Richie “Dodo” Lawlor and Ger Rossiter. Richie is a former member of the Labour Party. My Fianna Fail source tells me had over 300 people at his campaign launch and over 40 at a recent supporters meeting. In light of this development I now suspect one candidate who promoted Dodo in his tabloid free sheet column must now regret encouraging him to seek election as clearly Dodo challenges for the head of the poll. Anything else would presumably be a huge disappointment. There’s also the possibility of Jim Breen running as the independent Horse Whisperer candidate to highlight his grievance against the HSE. So it could be 22 whereas last time around it was 19. Nominations open on May 9th and close a week later so who’s to know who else will come out of the woodwork. Its good to see more candidates and it makes for a long and interesting count, hopefully not as long as in 2004 when Wexford Borough was one of just 3 elections counting when a final declaration was made.

I’ll refrain from making any predictions because lets face it I’m biased, and to make a prediction you’ve got to be impartial. However, it’s hard to put yourself up for election particularly a local election. I genuinely believe Labour can hold their 5 seats because in 2004 we won 5 seats off the back of 11% of the national vote and now Labour has 19% in opinion polls. So its possible for me and my 4 running mates to hold on, however all politics are local and no one knows until the ballot boxes are opened and then it’s too late! I've more to do than make a prediction, I'll work hard to get myself back, all others can sort themselves out!!

Finally, my colleague Tommy Carr and FF councillor Gus Byrne retire on June 5th. I’ve spoken about Tommy at the selection conference and Gus when he announced is retirement at the April meeting. It’s easy to have a cut at a local politician however these 2 men have been in local politics in Wexford for a long time. They typify what local politics is about, representing the people and wanting the best for their town. Both have poured oil on troubled waters in the past, in their absence who’ll do the needful?