Political heavyweights will be looking to maintain the status quo in the Clonmel area

They say that a week is a long time in politics, but the two days of Friday, June 7 (polling day) and Saturday, June 8 (the count) will seem like an eternity for the eleven candidates who are battling for six seats in the Clonmel Local Electoral Area.

The six sitting councillors - led by District Mayor Richie Molloy, as well as Cllrs Siobhán Ambrose, Niall Dennehy, Pat English, John FitzGerald and Michael Murphy - have all thrown their hat into the ring again.

In a local context, they are all regarded as political heavyweights, and with the exception of Cllr FitzGerald have all served terms as Mayor of Clonmel at some stage of their political careers. With the wealth of experience that each has to offer, it will be a major achievement on the part of the other five candidates in the field if any of them manages to take a seat at the expense of any of the sitting councillors.

This will be the first of two elections that Fine Gael’s Cllr Murphy will contest in the next year, after he was chosen as the party’s candidate for the next General Election, which must be held before the end of next March.

The poll-topper in the Clonmel area at the last Local Elections in 2019 with 2,102 first preference votes, he is a shoo-in to be re-elected, and his transfers could play a role in the election of his party colleague Cllr John FitzGerald, who was co-opted to the council four years ago to fill the vacancy created by Garret Ahearn’s elevation to Seanad Éireann.

Fianna Fáil are fielding just one candidate, Cllr Siobhán Ambrose, who looks another safe bet for re-election. So too do Independent councillor Richie Molloy and Workers and Unemployed Action Group (WUAG) councillor Pat English, who also have solid records of strong local representation.

Led by Director of Elections, former TD Seamus Healy, the WUAG will be keeping their fingers crossed that Cllr English’s transfers will be sufficient to get another of the group’s candidates, Teresa Johnson, across the line.

She will be aiming to improve upon her performance at the 2019 Local Elections, when she received 345 first preference votes and missed out on winning a seat for the independent grouping.

In the hope that a rising tide lifts all vessels, Sinn Féin is looking to capitalise on the party’s strong performance in national polls in recent years, although support for the party has waned recently, dropping by five points in the most recent Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll, and drawing level with Fine Gael.

Sinn Féin are running two candidates in the Clonmel electoral area, Natasha C Dingivan and Dean McGrath.

In 2019 their candidate, then Councillor Catherine Carey, was locked in a battle with non-party candidate Niall Dennehy for the final seat before eventually losing out.

A similar battle could be on the cards between Sinn Féin and Cllr Dennehy on this occasion.

It would be a major surprise if either of the other candidates, the Green Party’s Myriam Madigan and Deirdre Dempsey, non-party, manages to win a seat.