Some new blood guaranteed following decision of well-known councillors to retire

COUNTY COUNCIL PROFILE/SOUTH TIPPERARY:TIPPERARY IS a psephologist's dream. The Premier County has no less than nine different council elections on June 5th. North Tipperary accounts for four, while voters in the old South Riding district will choose members for the South Tipperary County Council, a borough council in Clonmel and town councils in Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel, and Tipperary.

The county council, which is headquartered in Clonmel, has 26 seats and five electoral areas: Cahir (4 seats); Cashel (4 seats); Clonmel (7 seats); Fethard (6 seats); and Tipperary (5 seats).

Some new blood is guaranteed following the decision of well-known councillors to retire including Tom Ambrose (FF), Pat Norris (FF) and Seán Nyhan (FG), all in Clonmel; and Susan Meagher (FF) in Fethard. Also, since 2004 two councillors have departed for the Oireachtas: Cahir’s poll-topping Mattie McGrath (FF) was elected to the Dáil; while Clonmel’s Phil Prendergast (Labour) has become a senator.

Although Tipperary South’s three-seat Dáil constituency currently has a traditional “FF 2; FG 1” profile, its local politics are devilishly complex with an unusually high number of Independent councillors. The most high-profile is Séamus Healy who established the “Workers’ and Unemployed Action Group” in Clonmel in the 1980s.

Like in every other county, voters are preoccupied with national issues, notably the economy.

Recent high-profile job losses include over 100 redundancies at the CC Bulmer’s cider plant in Clonmel and there is much concerned speculation about the fate of the Army’s Kickham Barracks in the wake of the closure of other military facilities across the State. The Army has some 200 soldiers from the 12th Infantry Battalion stationed in Clonmel and their presence generates an estimated €10 million annually for the local economy.

A Fine Gael activist said candidates and canvassers on the doorsteps are being told: “You’re welcome if you’re not Fianna Fáil”. But he expressed caution about big gains for his party and ruefully observed: “Fianna Fáil people always stick with their own; they’d stay at home rather than vote for any other party”.

Still, local observers do expect Fianna Fáil losses. But predicting the beneficiaries is difficult. The re-emergence of unemployment as a major issue could benefit Mr Healy’s group but Labour is also expecting an increase in support. The party has three outgoing councillors including Denis Landy, a former mayor of Carrick-on-Suir, general election candidate and “full time public representative”.