The race for the council chamber in Tullamore
Electoral Divisions
Ballycumber, Bawn, Cappancur, Clara, Derrycooly, Durrow, Gorteen, Kilcumreragh, Killeigh, Killoughy, Rahan, Rathrobin, Screggan, Silverbrook, Tinamuck, Tinnycross, Tullamore Rural and Tullamore Urban.
Seats: 7
Sitting Councillors:
Fianna Fáil (4), Independent (2), Fine Gael (1)
Sandy Feehan-Smollen, Independent
Neil Feighery, Fine Gael
Declan Harvey, Fianna Fáil
Tony McCormack, Fianna Fáil
Frank Moran, Fianna Fáil
Sean O'Brien, Independent
Danny Owens, Fianna Fáil
Candidates (12)
Broder, Patrick (Irish Freedom Party)
Bryant, Ollie (Fianna Fáil)
Dillon, Deirdre (Non-Party)
Farrell, Tim (Sinn Féin)
Feehan-Smollen, Sandy (Non-Party)
Feighery, Neil (Fine Gael)
Harvey, Declan (Fianna Fáil)
Masterson, Aoife (Sinn Féin)
McCormack, Tony (Fianna Fáil)
Moran, Frank (Fianna Fáil)
O'Brien, Sean (Non-Party)
Walsh, Liam (Green Party)
Analysis
Five of the seven councillors elected in 2019 are contesting the election again. They are Fianna Fáil's Declan Harvey, Tony McCormack and Frank Moran, Fine Gael's Neil Feighery and Independent Sean O'Brien.
Fianna Fáil's Danny Owens, elected in 2019, is not running this time, after a long spell in the local authority chamber, whilst Independent Ken Smollen, who was also elected last time out, stepped down in 2023 from the council due to health reasons. His wife, Sandy Feehan-Smollen, who was co-opted in his place, is also contesting this election.
With only twelve candidates for seven seats, matters should be relatively quick at the count centre. The big questions revolve around the performance of the two Sinn Féin candidates, Aoife Masterson and Tim Farrell.
Sinn Féin took a paltry 2.6% of the first preference vote in the Tullamore area last time around, having topped the poll through Brendan Killeavy in 2014, with a whopping 22.8% of the vote.
That represented a huge fluctuation in Sinn Féin's fortunes and the main interest come June 8 and 9 will centre on the vote-garnering capacity of the party in 2024.
Masterson has a strong political experience built up through her work as a policy advisor to the party nationally.
She also has the advantage of being on the party ticket from the outset of this campaign, whilst her running mate, Tim Farrell, was a later addition, following the withdrawal of Theresa Bracken, who had initially been selected with Masterson at a party convention.
Masterson has also the endorsement of popular former councillor Brendan Killeavy – and whilst both have the disadvantage of being newcomers in a race where six of the seven outgoing councillors are running, it would be a seen as a big surprise if Sinn Féin did not return a councillor to the council chamber for the Tullamore area.
For Fianna Fáil, both Frank Moran and Declan Harvey were elected on the first count last time around, with the former topping the poll. Moran is based in Clara, which is a key part of the overall Tullamore area, whilst Harvey has the advantage of being a Tullamore town candidate.
Fianna Fáil took a huge 47% of the first preference vote on that occasion, securing four seats.
Whether they can repeat the feat, particularly with Sinn Féin likely to poll stronger on this occasion, is yet to be seen. Of course, it should be noted that spectacular vote management in 2014 ensured the party managed four seats on that occasion too, with 35.4% of the vote.
Fianna Fáil has replaced Owens on the ticket with first-time candidate Ollie Bryant, from Cloonagh, whilst Tony McCormack will be hoping to build on the momentum of his first term in the county council chamber.
Bryant, as a newcomer, is the Fianna Fáil candidate with the biggest challenge on his hand. His prospects may depend on the party's vote management, and, like everything else in this election, on the share of the vote taken by Sinn Féin.
Fine Gael, interestingly, is only running a single candidate, in the form of outgoing councillor Neil Feighery. The party ran two candidates in 2019 and garnered 22% of the vote.
If the party's current standing in the national opinion polls percolates down to a local level, Feighery's surplus could be a factor in the destination of some of the other seats. However, the converse is that with only one candidate the party is unlikely to secure the same share of the vote it would attract with two candidates.
Seasoned campaigner Sean O'Brien has been around the political scene in Tullamore for many years. He took the last seat in 2019, but relatively comfortably - some 200 plus votes ahead of his nearest challenger. There is always a strong independent vote in urban areas, and he will be pointing to his work over his political career
Sandy Feehan-Smollen is before the electorate for the first time, having been co-opted to the outgoing council. Her husband, Ken, took an impressive 9.5% of the first preference votes last time around and she will be aiming for similar in order to secure a seat.
Her Clara base should definitely be to her advantage, and while there is a movement towards independents, it will also be interesting to see in Offaly if an increased Sinn Féin vote affects non-party candidates.
The Green Party's flagbearer is Liam Walsh and it will be instructive to see his performance. The timing of the election could be better for the party, but there is an environmental vote to be got, particularly among younger generations who are concerned for their future in a world of climate change.
One factor to note is that Walsh, Feighery, Bryant and independent Deirdre Dillon are all based in relatively close proximity to each other geographically, though their votes will not be confined to their local areas.
Dillon is running on the issues of better local services and improved crime prevention
Paddy Broder is representing the Irish Freedom Party. He is highlighting issues of sovereignty and migration.
See our profiles of all the candidates here