A bleak day in Athlone as four lose seats

It was a bleak day at the Athlone count centre on Saturday as it became obvious early on that three, if not four, sitting councillors would lose their seats as new councillors were voted in. It made the victory for the successful candidates somewhat bitter sweet as for the majority of them their success was at the expense of their party colleagues. The count was off to a bad start when it emerged that one box had gone astray and was in fact in Mullingar while on Mullingar box had made its way to Athlone. This led to proceedings being brought to a halt shortly after noon, prolonging the wait for candidates, particularly those who tallies showed to be in danger. There were murmurings around the room that we were in for a long night as the count had be adjourned for almost an hour and a half. Once the count got underway again it was hit by further delays as one vote could not be accounted for and papers had to be rechecked. The fact that there were two Morans and two Cooneys on the ballot paper led to further checks and further delays and it was 6pm before the results of the first count were announced and the first candidate was elected. Poll topper Kevin "Boxer" Moran received a fantastic reception when he was elected on the first count. So too for Sheila Buckley-Byrne, who knew all too well about failure, having previously failed to secure a seat on two occasions under the Fianna Fáil banner. But running as an Independent candidate proved in her favour and there was sheer joy and elation in her corner of the room when Returning Officer John Walsh declared her elected to Athlone Town Council, a feat she first set out to achieve ten years ago. For the remainder of the candidates the wait was long as eight of them polled quite closely together and a tense evening ensued for the candidates, their supporters, family and friends as the surpluses and transfers were divided out, with the picture not becoming clear until the early hours of the morning. And while those who succeeded in securing their seats were obviously happy to do so the celebrations were somewhat muted as they were conscious it was at the expense of their party colleagues rather than a victory over another party. There were no scenes of new councillors being hoisted onto the shoulders of supporters as was the case in other count centres across the country and here on previous elections. Instead a cheer from families and supporters indicated which section of the room the victorious candidates were occupying. The tension built over the course of the count when it became clear that two party colleagues, both of whom were sitting councillors, would battle it out for the final seat and while Fianna Fáil, Labour and Sinn Féin could breathe a sigh of relief, the atmosphere in the Fine Gael corner was somewhat strained as the party faithful waited to find out whether Mark Cooney or Mick O"Connell would take the final seat on the council. And while the final count elected Jim Henson, Alan Shaw and Mark Cooney, the atmosphere wasn"t just one of elation as there was sadness too as John Butler, who had been Athlone"s longest serving councillor addressed the remaining crowd, with what can only be described as an extremely gracious speech. He wished all of those who were successful the very best for the future and said he hoped they would enjoy their time on the Council as much as he had over the past 24 years.