Boxer romps home in county council as Molloy loses out

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael shared the spoils in Athlone electoral area of Westmeath County Council in Mullingar on Saturday last, each taking a trio of seats in the newly reduced six-seater. Cllr Kevin "Boxer" Moran continued his highly impressive vote getting exploits in the Athlone area topping the poll on this occasion, with an increase of over a third in his vote to 1,771, surely one of the most impressive performers for Fianna Fáil nationwide in a day when the party took a battering, particularly in urban areas. He was subsequently elected on the first count with some 266 votes to spare. His party colleague Frankie Keena continued the bucking of national trends as he garnered a massive 50% plus increase in his vote to come in second place behind Moran, with 1,182. There was certainly no backlash against Fianna Fáil evident in the Athlone area, albeit both these cases had a large personal vote, irrespective of the Fianna Fail party. Cllr Keena was returned to Westmeath County Council on the fifth count. However, the bad news for the party was the loss of councillor of 18 years, Kieran Molloy who polled sluggishly from the outset with just 766, well behind the other sitting party councillor Tom Allen at 882. Overall, Fianna Fáil"s vote was down 6.5%, despite Boxer and Keena"s impressive showing. This was attributable to the fact the party ran five candidates in 2004. However, the fall in party share left Molloy vulnerable and Labour, in the shape of newcomer, Lisa Burke, polled creditably, while Sinn Féin"s Paul Hogan increased his party"s vote substantially and was in the running for the last seat right to the wire. The other big winners for Fine Gael were Joe Whelan in Moate with 1,125 and Mark Cooney in Glasson with 1,054, both increased votes that saw them back in the council chambers at the seventh count stage. There was an impressive 863 for John Dolan, mostly picked up in the rural areas of the boundary like Castledaly and Clonbonny. However, the councillor, who was co-opted to replace Senator Nicky McFadden, was also unsuccessful at his first election. Instead, it was Nicky"s sister, Gabrielle, who reached the county council on the first attempt. She continued the impressive family vote tradition coming in with 892. McFadden was in a fight with party colleague John Dolan, Tom Allen and Paul Hogan for the final two seats on the local authority. In the end, the attraction of McFadden for cross-party transfers proved her greatest strength as she gained from town candidates Lisa Burke and Kieran Molloy after they were eliminated at the 3rd and 4th count stage taking her comfortably above the other three remaining candidates. She was subsequently elected on the seventh count without reaching the quota, as was Tom Allen following the elimination of John Dolan. His 1,017 Fine Gael votes were never going to transfer to Sinn Féin in any great numbers and this proved Paul Hogan"s eventual undoing after gaining well in Fianna Fáil transfers throughout. He only received 70 to Allen"s 132. By the conclusion the he was just 68 votes behind the Moate-based Fianna Fáil councillor, who was elected at the seventh count stage without reaching the quota with a final total of 1,313 to Hogan"s 1,245. Although the national picture swayed towards many Independents, the only non-party candidate in Athlone, Jack Moran, brought up the field with 490. He failed to garner the necessary numbers of votes to make any real impact and was eliminated after the second count. See Pages 9 and 10 for more on the county council elections