Kells Fine Gael candidates selected

Kells Fine Gael branch held its selection convention for next June"s Town Council elections last Tuesday - with lone sitting councillor Ollie Sweeney stating that he would not be seeking a nomination. The three selected for next June's elections are Sarah Reilly, Stephen Foley and former town coucillor Seamus Grimes. Councillor Sweeney recently opened new premises on Farrell Street for his computer business and has informed the Meath East constituency council that increasing business commitments made his continued political involvement very difficult. The FG vote fell by 5.6 per cent in 2004 but its 16 per cent left the party second to Fianna Fáil, just one per cent ahead of Cllr Conor Ferguson of Sinn Féin. FG representation on Kells Town Council stood at three in 1994, when Cllr Sweeney was joined by Séamus Grimes and Michael Allen. But that 30.5 per cent share of first preferences fell to 21.6 per cent in 1999, when Michael Allen lost his seat. The transfer of Kells into the Meath East constituency and recent opening of Deputy Shane McEntee"s office in Farrell Street is an indication of party plans to recover lost ground amidst a belief that it can regain not just one, but two seats on the council. But the keen competition for votes on Kells Council (the 69.2 per cent turnout in 2004 required a recount of the 12th count to establish the winner of the last seat) suggests Fine Gael will do well to recover a second seat. There was some criticism following the 2004 election of its strategy of running four candidates. The party vote held up well but the siting of candidates and transfer patterns did not work nearly as well as Fianna Fáil"s, critics claimed. Fianna Fáil has a pattern of recovering ground after poorer performances and it has targeted regaining council control through winning one extra seat. Already, Cllr Peter Caffrey has indicated he will not be seeking a nomination but many candidates can be expected to come forward when its selection convention takes place. Labour will seek to retain its two seats held by Cllr Collins and veteran Kells councillor, Tommy Grimes, while Cllr Brian Curran may encounter competition for the independent vote.