FG councillor spent €45,000 to get elected

Cllr Mr Eugene Regan was the biggest election spender in South Dublin. He paid out almost three times more than the next highest spender in the council, Mr Brendan Kiely of Fianna Fáil, who spent €15,622 and was not elected.

A Fine Gael councillor spent almost €45,000 to get elected to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

Cllr Mary Mitchell O'Connor (PD), Cllr Gearóid O'Keeffe (Ind) and Cllr Cormac Devlin (FF) returned expenses of almost €12,000 each. Cllr Denis O'Callaghan and Cllr Jane Dillon Byrne returned expenses of less than €2,000. Other councillors spent from €3,000 to €11,000.

Other unsuccessful candidates who ran expensive campaigns included: Mr Victor Boyhan (PD) and Mr Mazhar Ali Bari (PD) who both spent almost €11,000 each; Mr Tony Kelly (FF) who spent €9,000; and Mr William Dockrell (FG), who spent €8,000.

The biggest spenders in South Dublin County Council included Cllr Alex White (Lab) at €14,640; Cllr Jim Daly (FF) at €13,550; Cllr John Hannon (FF) at €12,711; and Cllr John Lahart (FF) at €12,324.

The highest election spender in Dublin City Council was Mr Niall Ring (FF), who spent €28,000 but was not elected. Mr Tony Williams (PD), who spent €18,949, was also unsuccessful.

Under the Local Elections Act 1999 election candidates are required to provide a statement of expenses to the local authorities within 90 days of the election. They must also provide a statement of donations.

Cllr Regan said that of the €44,968 he spent on the local election, only €50 was donated.

"The expenditure incurred was incurred by me with no contribution from anyone and is a measure of my commitment to play my part in rebuilding Fine Gael in the Dún Laoghaire constituency," he said.

"I am delighted to have been elected and that Fine Gael did well both locally and nationally." He said that he was a new candidate in a field of excellent and well-established candidates.

"Modern communications are expensive particularly if one is to run an innovative campaign as I did," he said.

"For example, full-colour literature was essential to properly illustrate detailed proposals, such as my traffic calming plans. In the next general election Fine Gael will be striving for two seats in the DúLaoghaire-Rathdown constituency and we have made an excellent start, with the Fine Gael result in the local elections."