Wicklow profile: Many intriguing plots to unfold at polls

[ Full list of candidates ]

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.

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.

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)