Posted online: Jun 9th, 2009

By Teresa McGowan
Editor

THE votes have been counted and in keeping with the national trend Fine Gael have scooped the most seats in the Sligo County Council electoral poll.
Fianna Fail lost three seats of the County Council and now holds just seven of the 25 seats, an unprecedented low for the party.
Fine Gael returned 12 councillors to the council and are now just one of short of having outright control on the council.
Two of their four seats were lost in Sligo Borough Council as FG and Labour each gained a seat.
FG won two extra seats on the county council but there was upset when two party veterans; Ita Fox and Paul Conmy lost their seats.

Poll toppers
Tony McLoughlin (FG) romped home in the Strandhill area with 2019 votes. The quota was 1016. He has since announced that he will seek a party nomination to run in the Sligo-North Leitrim constituency in the General Election next year.
Cllr McLoughlin first stood as a Fine Gael candidate in Sligo-Leitrim back in the General Election of 1981, but was unsuccessful.
Independent Cllr Declan Bree also polled highly in that constituency with 1366 votes and he too will be looking to get his foot in the Dail in next year’s General Election.
Joe Leonard of FG was the poll topper in the Drumcliffe constituency with 1528 votes. The quota was 1104. Mayor Veronica Cawley (Lab) was elected at 1149 with transfers.
In Ballymote FG’s Gerard Mullaney, Thomas Collery and Pat McGrath took three of the four seats with FF’s Martin Baker taking the fourth.
In Dromore West Michael Clarke (Ind) was the poll-topper and FG got two of the four seats there with Mary Barrett and Dara Mulvey. Joseph Queenan (FF) also got a seat.
Margaret Gormley (Ind) romped home in Tubbercurry with her 2162 votes smashing the 1185 quota.

Borough council
Meanwhile in the borough council the only councillor not to retain a seat was former mayor, FF’s Johnathon McGoldrick, who lost his seat in the North Ward.
“My first preference vote went up by nine per cent and I was the only candidate in the constituency whose vote actually increased,” Mr McGoldrick pointed out to the Post.
“I came in at third place but the transfers were just not there.
“I’m only in my early 30s and I’ll still be in my 30s for the next election to give it another shot,” he vowed.
“I’d like to thank everyone who did vote for me and to my family who have been such a great help over the past 10 weeks.”
Over all a high turnout was recorded in the county as just under 50,000, that’s 67 per cent of the electorate, came out to vote. In the Drumore area a whopping 72.2 per cent cast their vote with the Tubbercurry electorate just behind with 72.1 per cent.