FG surge sweeps Reilly to poll-topping performance

The big winner in the Kells Town Council election was Fine Gael"s Sarah Reilly, who topped the poll with almost another one-third of a quota to spare. She is one of two new faces on the council - the other being that of Fianna Fail"s Frankie Lynch. The seven outgoing councillors who had sought re-election held onto their seats and the new make-up of the council is: Fianna Fail, three seats (down one); Fine Gael, two (up one); Labour, two (no change); Sinn Fein, one (no change), and independents, one (no change). For council veteran, Tommy Grimes, Saturday was a long, tense day as his re-election wasn"t certain until the final count shortly before 1am on Sunday morning. Despite colossal losses nationwide, Fianna Fail"s took 37 per cent of the vote, which was down just 5.6 per cent on 2004. Fine Gael were up seven per cent to take 25 per cent of first preferences. Labour took 14 per cent of the vote, up 1.2 per cent on 2004, while Sinn Fein"s share was down 1.2 points to 12 per cent of the vote. Independents took 12 per cent of first preferences this time, up 1.95 per cent on the last election. First time candidate Sarah Reilly topped the poll and, along with outgoing councillors, Bryan Reilly (FF) and Sean Drew (FF), was elected on the first count. She said she was delighted that a woman had topped the poll, mantioning that there hadn"t been a woman on the council for the past five years. 'Kells is such a Fianna Fail town, it is great to top the poll for Fine Gael,' she said. Ms Reilly said she owed her victory to the hard work of the Fine Gael team in Kells over the past few weeks and she was looking forward to representing the people of the town. Another new face on the council, Frankie Lynch (FF), who was elected on the final count, said he, too, was delighted to have had the opportunity to stand for Fianna Fail in the election. He recalled that his brother, the late Cllr Aidan Lynch, had been chairman of the council in 2002/2003 and his family has asked him to try and win back his late brother"s seat. The Labour Party held onto its two seats with Cllr Brian Collins elected on the seventh count, but veteran councillor Tommy Grimes - who has already served 35 years as a councillor - suffered through a long, tense day before being elected on the final count in the early hours of Sunday morning. Both candidates said they were delighted that the party had improved its vote and paid tribute to party workers for their efforts in the campaign. Cllr Bryan Reilly, who polled the second highest first preferences, declared himself delighted with the result and said it had been a tough campaign as it came at a time 'when the wind was not at their backs'. He added: 'It was an uphill battle but the party did very well with a strategy that kept the vote tight.' Outgoing Fianna Fail councillor Sean Drew, who was also elected on the first count, said the fact that Fianna Fail managed to achieve 37 per cent of the vote was a vindication of the work put in by the public representatives of the party in Kells over the past five years. 'The local Kells cumann ran a tremendous campaign, which bucked the national trend for the party,' he said. Independent councillor Brian Curran also was elected on the second count to serve a fourth term on Kells Town Council. He was delighted with his vote which, he said, was a strong indication that the people of Kells wanted independent representation on their local council. Sinn Fein"s Cllr Conor Ferguson who was elected on the ninth count with transfers from his running mate, Phil Heary, was delighted, too, with his win and thanked all the voters who had put their faith in him. He paid tribute to Philip Heary for his performance, saying his transfers had elected him. 'I am looking forward to the next five years in the council representing the people of Kells,' he said. Fine Gael"s Cllr Oliver Sweeney was also delighted to have held onto his seat. He said he had always taken a great interest in the town and hoped to continue the work he had been doing over the last few years. 'It is great that Fine Gael have a new fresh face on the council in Sarah Reilly,' he added.