19 candidates contest Athlone and Moate elections

The full list of candidates running in the four Westmeath local electoral areas (LEAs) in the forthcoming local elections has been formally published by Westmeath County Council.

In total, 48 candidates have declared, 17 of whom are women. Kinnegad actually has more women candidates standing than men - 9 out of its total list of 16.

The Moate LEA meanwhile, which has 8 candidates seeking election, has no women on the list.

The number of candidates who have declared for Mullingar is 13, six of whom are women, while in Athlone, just two out of the eleven who have declared they are running are women.

In total there are 20 seats to be filled and 17 of the existing councillors are seeking re-election. The three who have opted out of the running for this election are all from the Kinnegad LEA – Ireland’s longest-serving public representative, Cllr Frank McDermott, and Fine Gael’s Paddy Hill and John Shaw.

Athlone LEA

Fianna Fáil - Frankie Keena

Fianna Fáil - Aengus O'Rourke

Fine Gael - John Dolan

Fine Gael - Ruairí Keyes

Green Party - Louise Heavin

Independent - Tom Cleary

Independent - Kevin "Boxer" Moran

Independent Ireland - Paul Hogan

Irish Freedom Party – Catrina O’Donohoe

Labour - Ray Lennon

Sinn Féin - Conor Dowling-Linehan

Moate LEA

Fianna Fáil - Vinny McCormack

Fianna Fáil - Liam McDaniel

Fine Gael - Tom Farrell

Independent - Michael O'Brien

Independent Ireland - Paul Hogan

Irish Freedom Party - Shane Lynam

Labour - Johnnie Penrose

Sinn Féin - John Lawlor