Voting takes place tomorrow, Friday, in the local and European elections, and polling stations will open from 7am until 10pm. The checking and counting of votes for the Kanturk-Mallow and Fermoy electoral areas will begin on Saturday in Mallow Youth Centre. The Mallow-Kanturk electoral area has 12 candidates vying for 6 seats, with the same number going forward in the Fermoy area. The elections will bring about a sea-change in local politics, with Mallow Town Council being disbanded after more than a century in existence to be replaced by a municipal authority. The final monthly meeting of the council was held on Tuesday 6th May, and tomorrow’s vote will see the retirement of outgoing Mayor John Griffin, James Kennedy, Roisin Lucey, Jerry Mullally and Fergal Cronin, while Dan Joe Fitzgerald, Noel O’Connor, Ronan Sheehan and Melissa Mullane are into the hat for the new council. All candidates have been wearing out shoe-leather in the past few weeks as they canvassed the expanded constituency, and while they are hopeful of making the final six, this is a remote prospect due to the strength of the candidates on the Kanturk side of the constituency, and also the voting strength of John Paul O’Shea from nearby Rahan.
The candidates in the Kanturk-Mallow area are as follows: Dan Joe Fitzgerald, Bernard Moy-nihan and Bart Donegan (Fianna Fáil); Noel O’Connor, Gerard Murphy and Noel Buckley (Fine Gael); Ronan Sheehan (Labour Party); Melissa Mullane (Sinn Fein); and John Paul O’Shea, Timmy Collins, Greg Zalewski and Denis O’Brien (Independent).
The Fermoy electoral area candidates are: Ian Doyle, Frank O’Flynn and Kevin O’Keeffe (Fianna Fáil); Aileen Browne and Kay Dawson (Fine Gael); Noel McCarthy (Labour Party); June Murphy (Sinn Fein); Ross Cannon, Pat Fouhy, Michael McCarthy, Frank Roche and Timmy ‘Rancher’ White (Inde-pendent).
In the Euro election, candidates are as follows: Seán Kelly, Deirdre Clune and Simon Harris (Fine Gael); Brian Crowley and Brian Hartley (Fianna Fáil); Phil Prendergast (Labour Party); Grace O’Sullivan (Green Party); Liadh Na Riada (Sinn Fein); Jan Van De Ven (Direct Democracy Ireland); Donal O Ríordain (Fis Nua); Theresa Heaney (Catholic Democrats); Diarmuid O’Flynn (Ballyhea Says No), Jillian Godsil, Richard Cahill and Peter O’Loughlin (Independ-ents).
For a rundown on all the candidates, see pages 36 – 39.