Mayo local elections: the aftermath in Castlebar district

By Dr. Richard Martin

ON Sunday, the 9th of June in the year 2024, at roughly 8.50 a.m., the election results for the Castlebar district were finalised. There were three main talking points.

• The election of Ger Deere on the second count.

• The collapse of the SF vote.

• The election of Harry Barrett.

1. Ger Deere, FG and FF

In the lead-up to the election, I expected to see Councillor Deere poll very strongly and be the strongest of the three FG candidates in the race. A definite fourth and a likely third. But, I didn’t forecast the landslide vote he received from the electorate.

His vote increased by roughly 600 votes from the previous local election in 2019. That’s a nearly 33 per cent increase in five years.

Why did he receive that huge mandate from the people in the district? In my opinion, the fact that he took a strong visible stance on immigration and worked hard to integrate asylum seekers into our society through the Tidy Towns was applauded and rewarded by the silent majority of the people in the town and district.

He was also the only councillor in the district who worked in a TD’s office.

I stood alongside Councillor Al McDonnell as we watched Councillor Michael Kilcoyne and Councillor Deere being elected. There was a mass of people from the FG family around him as they lifted him into the air in celebration. Later, that evening I congratulated him on his spectacular victory and we were interrupted by the two ladies who run Deputy Dillon’s office. Watching them interact with Councillor Deere brought home to me that the FG political machine in Castlebar is a slick, well-oiled machine where everyone works in harmony. They all work hard to get the bread-and-butter work done. Potholes, passports, medical cards...

The vast majority of the electorate doesn’t care about political tribalism anymore. They want politicians who are prepared to graft.

The huge vote that Councillor Deere received is also a massive fillip for Alan Dillon too.

Councillors get something that TDs don’t. Discretionary funding. Every councillor receives €350,000 over a five-year period to spend on projects within their district.

Their relationship is symbiotic. They both understand the benefits of working together. Akin to Adams and McGuinness, you couldn’t put a cigarette paper between the pair of them. They move and think as one.

A general election will likely be called after the budget, and based on the last weekend’s results Alan Dillon will be elected comfortably to the Dáil. I couldn’t help but contrast the unity in FG locally with the disunity of FF. There seemed to be little or no comradery between the three candidates and FF had no designated areas with which to canvass in the district. They all kept their distance at the count. Every man for himself.

The divisions within FF locally persist from the days when there were two FF cumanns in the town.

Pro-Flynn and Anti-Flynn. The wounds haven’t quite healed. The rights and wrongs are immaterial.

Senator Lisa Chambers lost her seat in 2020. The lack of togetherness within the party locally must’ve been a factor. The symbiosis that exists between the Burkes, Dillons and Deere in FG is nonexistent in FF.

Whilst this continues FG are moving ahead all the time. The succession from the Kenny machine to the Dillon era was seamless. Only goodwill. Henry Kenny was visibly present as Ger Deere was hoisted into the air.

FG returned three candidates and FF returned two. Martin McLoughlin lost his seat to Harry Barrett. However, FF never partitioned the district like FG.

FG made the astute move of appointing Darragh Loftus as director of elections within the county and that proved to be a shrewd and savvy move. The candidates by and large adhered to the strategy put in place by Loftus.

Life and politics are competitive but for any party to be successful the party must act as a collective. Most of the candidates within the FG party in Mayo understood this and this is one of the crucial reasons they have performed so well in all districts.

There may come a time when FF headquarters must intervene directly in the Castlebar area. In truth, I think that time has come. If Senator Chambers is to be elected to the next Dáil, FF needs to run a solid campaign. Their last campaign in 2020 was shambolic. The local election results indicate that the wind is at the backs of the old firm. A good campaign should ensure she wins a seat in a five-seater. The county town would then have its usual representation of two TDs in the Oireachtas.

In contrast, their FF brethren in Ballina are a slick streamlined bunch. Deputy Dara Calleary's authority isn’t questioned and the local councillors Annie-May and Michael Loftus are grafted onto him.

Councillor Mark Duffy got a massive endorsement from the people of Ballina and will likely run in the next general election, but he won’t break the FF machine in Ballina. He may hurt Calleary, but he won’t break him, and based on this election’s results, he will be returned later this year with councillors who are grafted onto him and loyal. He reached the quota in the last general election and will do so again later this year.

2. The Collapse of SF

In Castlebar, Councillor Al McDonnell and Councillor Blackie Gavin were both returned, as was expected. Both are monsters of local politics and have a joint unbroken record of 65 years in politics. That is an incredible achievement.

SF hoped to win a seat in Castlebar. They underestimated Michael Kilcoyne and the Bould Blackie. The 3,000 votes that Rose Conway-Walsh received in the last general election was nothing more than a loan. The man from Lucan Street is one of the most competitive and tenacious divils I’ve ever met. He has deep roots in the town and organisations like Castlebar Celtic.

Both SF candidates weren’t from the county never mind the town. Against the Bould Blackie on his local turf there could only ever be one winner.

SF were far too complacent in the town of Castlebar after the last general election. They got a massive endorsement from the people of the town and should’ve opened an office in the town straight away. They didn’t. They left the field wide open to FG and they have exploited the absence of competition to maximum effect. It was a critical error and based on these results the election of Conway-Walsh to the Dáil later this year isn’t a formality.

SF failed to elect a councillor in Belmullet and Ballina where Rose Conway-Walsh has constituency offices. That was damning and a huge body blow to the SF party within the county. It was a rejection by the electorate of Conway- Walsh herself.

Why did SF perform so poorly? I met a stalwart member of the SF party on the Sunday night and his parting remark was, 'The only place you can ride two horses is at the circus’. SF have been hoping that the immigration issue would just go away. They never came out and declared in black-and-white terms that they were pro-immigration or anti-immigration. They were too afraid to alienate swathes of their base, some of whom are vehemently anti-immigration. The electorate sensed and smelled their indecisiveness and stuck with the status quo or moved to independents or far-right candidates.

The resignation of Leo Varadkar and the leadership of Simon Harris has re-energised the FG party. It’s unlikely they would’ve received this endorsement from the electorate had Leo Varadkar still been leader.

Given the disastrous showing of the SF party nationally, it is likely that Mary Lou’s position as leader is now under threat.

3. Harry Barrett

The election of Harry Barrett was a sensational result. I didn’t see it coming. After the first count, he was 9th in the running order. At 2 a.m. Blackie moved from his perch in the corner of the room and approached him. I watched and listened as he kept giving words of advice and comfort to Harry and his two lads. Hang in there. It’s not over. I’ve come through tough elections.

I thought, in truth, he was just being kind. But, he wasn’t. The old dog for the hard road knew it wasn’t over even when everyone else thought it was.

Harry was extremely transfer-friendly. He gradually built momentum as candidates were eliminated. Votes kept coming his way. He leapfrogged Martin McLoughlin, Steven Kerr and Donna Sheridan.

A stunning result and well deserved. He had no party machine. He started campaigning this time last year, and when I woke on Sunday morning and saw that he had been elected I was thrilled.

He was, of course, my teacher in St. Pat's 25 years ago when I was in 6th class. A brilliant mentor and teacher. He had the rare gift of bringing the whole class with him and making us believe in ourselves.

To see him succeed after years of hard work and electoral setbacks is nothing short of inspirational. Maith thú agus comhghairdeas a chara.