Domnick Connolly “absolutely thrilled” to secure final seat

Domnick Connolly said that he was “absolutely thrilled” with his result in the local election after managing to take the final seat in the Athlone electoral area of Roscommon despite not reaching the quota.

He added that it didn't look great for him when the first tallies came him in but that he picked up a lot of second preferences during the count. Mr Connolly was “very happy” with how his campaign went and said that his team canvassed very hard. “People come and help you, they row in behind you,” stated the newly elected Fine Gael councillor.

Mr Connolly, from Fuerty, who quit Fine Gael with Laurence Fallon in 2011 in protest at the closure of the A&E at Roscommon hospital, subsequently served as an Independent Cllr before losing his seat in 2019, when he polled 634 votes in vast Roscommon electoral area. He recently rejoined Fine Gael and was selected along with John Naughten to run for the party in the weekend election.

Mr Connolly remarked that he didn't “leave any stone unturned” during his campaign which got him over the line. He said that the transfers were vitally important for him and that in the eighth count he was over 250 votes behind Sam Brooks but he then received 370 transfer votes from James Murray in the final count. Mr Murray is from the same parish as Mr Connolly who felt that voters wanted a councillor in this area.

Some of the major issues that voters were concerned about during Mr Connolly's canvass were housing, migration and the persistent flooding issue in Lough Funshinagh. He said that the flooding would have to be addressed “some way or another” in the future. Looking ahead to the next five years as a local councillor, Mr Connolly will focus on improving roads and fixing potholes along with looking at the speeding issue in the Barrymore/Kiltoom area.

Regarding the fact that he failed to meet the quota for election, Mr Connolly said that he's “never disappointed” to get a seat. The Fuerty native added that he was “extremely happy” and that it was “so important” for voters to mark their preferences because “you don't know when fives and sixes (preference votes) will come into play.