McDaniel ‘honoured’ he was re-elected

The outgoing cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, Liam McDaniel, said he is “absolutely delighted” to be re-elected in the Moate LEA. He was elected on the fifth count when he exceeded the quota by a single vote.

It looked as if his seat was in jeopardy for a long time on Saturday when the votes were being segregated in Athlone. The tallies showed that independent candidate Michael O’Brien was polling well and could have taken McDaniel’s seat. When the final boxes from Kilbeggan and Tyrrellspass were opened, however, that gave the councillor the boost in first-preference votes he needed to get over the line.

The Kilbeggan native now living in Ballinagore had a major health scare in 2021, which led to a hospital stay for over a year. Despite that, he continued to work for his constituents and was elected cathaoirleach of the council in June of last year.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner following his election he said he was both “happy and relieved” to retain his seat.

“At one stage, I didn’t know whether I’d ever be running again, but my health improved and I got to the stage where I was able to go out and get through the campaign.

“I received great support from a lot of my Fianna Fáil colleagues, members of the party and my campaign director, Senator Paul Daly. I thank the people for their support and for trusting me to represent them for another five years on the Westmeath County Council.

“The people of Kilbeggan, Tyrrellspass, Ballinagore, Castletown Geoghegan, Dalystown and the areas further afield really rallied around me and I was delighted with the support I got, more than happy,” he said.

Fianna Fáil retained all nine seats they held going into the election and remain the biggest party on the council at a 45% share of the seats (at the time of writing, and subject to change in the recount on Monday).

“It looks like we’re going to keep the nine seats with some new faces in there. We went out with nine and we’re coming back with nine so it’s a good day for Fianna Fáil.

“I am looking forward to the next five years and hopefully that we can, as a council, progress the county and make the improvements that are required and do our best for the people of Westmeath,” Cllr McDaniel said.