Wicklow profile: Many intriguing plots to unfold at polls

Council upheavals at Bray, Greystones, Arklow and Wicklow will propel drama

Full list of candidatesOpens in new window ]

The local elections in Wicklow won't lack for talking points on Friday.

Charlie Keddy is continuing his practice of 20 years' standing of running in all five electoral areas in the county, a strategy that has yet to see any success, while Cllr Jimmy O'Shaughnessy, one of three Wicklow councillors to leave Labour in recent years, is standing in both Wicklow and Arklow because boundary changes saw his home patch of Rathdrum move from the former to the latter. Some local political sources say he is likely to get elected in Arklow, while others said the decision to run in two areas could backfire and leave him without a seat.

Cllr Jimmy O’Shaughnessy is standing in both Wicklow and Arklow because of boundary changes. Photograph: Eric Luke
Cllr Jimmy O’Shaughnessy is standing in both Wicklow and Arklow because of boundary changes. Photograph: Eric Luke

This approach could also see the current Wicklow County Council cathoirleach elected for the two different areas. He would then have to choose which area he wanted to serve as councillor.

While opinions differ on this – others claim the surplus seat should go to the next-placed candidate – Mr O'Shaughnessy says he is prepared to take his case to the High Court.

READ SOME MORE

It is just one of a number of intriguing plots at play in Wicklow, with residents losing town councils in Bray, Greystones, Arklow and Wicklow itself. The county council sees its seats increase from 24 to 32.

Baltinglass, Wicklow, Arklow and Greystones now have six seats each, while Bray has eight. The council elected in 2009 had nine Fine Gael seats; four Fianna Fáil; six Labour (although that has dropped to three, due to defections); two Sinn Féin; and three independents. Issues raised by voters include property and water taxes.

Half the 14 candidates standing in the Wicklow electoral area are Independent, with outgoing councillors Pat Casey (Fianna Fáil), John Snell (Sinn Féin) and Irene Winters (Fine Gael) seeking re-election.

Local sources say the Arklow electoral area could prove to be one of the success stories of the election for Fianna Fáil, who have a strong presence.

Tom Curran, the husband of Marie Fleming, the right to die campaigner who passed away last December, is standing as an Independent in Arklow.

Fine Gael had three out of the four seats available in the old Greystones local electoral area, and the party is running four candidates this time.Sinn Féin will be looking for two seats in Bray, while Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are running three and two candidates respectively.

Full list of candidates

Electoral Area
Name Party
Arklow Annesley, Tommy (FF)
Arklow Bourke, Sylvester (FG)
Arklow Curran, Tom (Ind)
Arklow Dempsey, Peter (Ind)
Arklow Fitzgerald, Pat (FF)
Arklow Keddy, Charlie (Ind)
Arklow Kelly, Nicky (Ind)
Arklow Kennedy, Pat (FF)
Arklow McDonald, Mary (SF)
Arklow Mooty, Mary (Lab)
Arklow Murphy, Miriam (Ind)
Arklow O’Shaughnessy, Jimmy (Ind)
Arklow Whelan, Brian (DDI)
Baltinglass Blake, Vincent (FG)
Baltinglass Byrne, Kevin (Ind)
Baltinglass Cullen, Tommy (Ind)
Baltinglass Doran, Pat (FF)
Baltinglass Godsil, Jillian (Ind)
Baltinglass Keddy, Charlie (Ind)
Baltinglass Kinsella, Aidan (SF)
Baltinglass McCormac, Joe (FF)
Baltinglass McMahon, Lorcan (FG)
Baltinglass O'Neill, Gerry (SF)
Baltinglass Plant, Dominic (Ind)
Baltinglass Ruttle, Jim (Ind)
Baltinglass Timmins, Edward (FG)
Bray Behan, Joe (Ind)
Bray Brady, John (SF)
Bray Briggs, Sharon (PBP)
Bray Finnegan, Eugene (Ind)
Bray Fox, Christopher (Ind)
Bray Glynn, Mick (FG)
Bray Grant, David (FF)
Bray Hannon Kennedy, Catherine (Ind)
Bray Keddy, Charlie (Ind)
Bray Ledwidge, Seay (Ind)
Bray Matthews, Steven (GP)
Bray McManus, Ronan (Lab)
Bray Nevin, Barry (Ind)
Bray O’Brien, Oliver (SF)
Bray O'Brien, Tracy (Lab)
Bray Ryan, John (FG)
Bray Thornhill, Brendan (Ind)
Bray Vance, Pat (FF)
Bray Wray, Sarah (FG)
Greystones Byrne, Niall (GP)
Greystones Dillon, Liz (FG)
Greystones Doyle, James (FF)
Greystones Fortune, Tom (Ind)
Greystones Hanley, Taragh (FF)
Greystones Johnston, Jacqui (PBP)
Greystones Keddy, Charlie (Ind)
Greystones Lawless, Nicola (SF)
Greystones McGahon, Ian (Lab)
Greystones McLoughlin, Gráinne (FG)
Greystones Mitchell, Derek (FG)
Greystones O’Reilly, David (FG)
Greystones Walsh, Gerry (FF)
Greystones Whitmore, Jennifer (Ind)
Wicklow Casey, Pat (FF)
Wicklow Cullen, Shay (FG)
Wicklow Doyle, Anna (PBP)
Wicklow Doyle, Seán (Eir)
Wicklow Dunne, Gail (FF)
Wicklow Earls, Malcolm (FG)
Wicklow Goodman, John (Ind)
Wicklow Kavanagh, Pat (Ind)
Wicklow Keddy, Charlie (Ind)
Wicklow Kinsella, Gerry (Ind)
Wicklow Leahy, Paul (GP)
Wicklow Morrison, Mervyn (Ind)
Wicklow Mulvihill, Michael (Ind)
Wicklow Nolan, Daire (Ind)
Wicklow O’Brien, Paul (Lab)
Wicklow O’Reilly, Garrett (SF)
Wicklow Phillips, Norman (DDI)
Wicklow O'Shaughnessy, Jimmy (Ind)
Wicklow Snell, John (SF)
Wicklow Winters, Irene (FG)