Published: Wednesday, 3rd June, 2009 1:00pm

Gilmore confident of Labour gain on Athlone Town Council

Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore said last week he was confident of a gain on Athlone Town Council as well as securing a seat in the Athlone Area of Westmeath County Council.

Deputy Gilmore said all three candidates standing - Cllr Ray Lennon, Jim Henson and Lisa Burke - were capable of winning a seat.

'I"m confident we can get the two seats on Athlone Town Council and the one on Westmeath County Council,' he said.

He added that Deputy Willie Penrose keeps him well informed on issues in Athlone and throughout the county of Westmeath, but the big issues anywhere in the country now were jobs and businesses and getting the economy back up and running.

He said he was also confident that Labour"s candidate for Europe Susan O"Keefe could win a seat for the party, allowing it to increase its representation to four MEPs. He said the attitude on the doorsteps was that people were disillusioned with the Government and were deciding to vote Labour because they saw it as a real viable alternative.

He added that the Ireland North West constituency was the only constituency with counties in all four provinces and said there was a big Labour vote in the southern part of this constituency. Mr Gilmore also said the party"s candidate Susan O"Keefe was a strong candidate and he was confident she could win a seat. He said Fianna Fáil"s delay in finalising its candidates in the constituency may do the party damage.

Ms O"Keefe added that there were internal issues within Fianna Fáil in relation to its selection of candidates with Pascal Mooney saying he had been selected by the party at a convention, while Pat "the Cope" Gallagher was imposed on the ticket by the party.

'There is a lot of internal friction and unhappiness at that,' she said.

In relation to recent opinion polls, Deputy Gilmore said it was the first time in the State that voters had a choice of three parties, as until now it had really been between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, but he pointed out that Labour had now passed out Fianna Fáil and was the only party gaining in popularity.

'There is a three-way contest now. I feel Labour is gaining support and the momentum is with us,' he said.

He said while this week"s election is not a general election, he believed it had the potential to change Irish politics.