McCormack happy that vote was up

Elected on the fourth count – but a sure cert from the early tally indications – Cllr Vinny McCormack said candidly that it was "a huge relief" to cross the line.

"I’m proud of the first preference vote I achieved: I managed to increase the first preference by about 400 votes, which is a testament to the work I have done on behalf of the people in the last five years, and that’s always pleasing when you get that endorsement from the people."

The Ballymore man first ran for election in 2009, and had two unsuccessful runs before getting elected for the first time in 2019. He is now embarking on a second term.

While, across the country, many candidates reported that during the canvass, big issues that they were encountering were immigration and housing, those weren’t the concerns McCormack was hearing of from his constituents.

"One of the main issues raised with me was speed of traffic: there’s huge concern out there over traffic speed in our towns and villages. That’s something I am working on tackling: I am putting plans in place to address that, and that’s something I hope we can see enacted in this coming council term."

A striking feature of the election, Cllr McCormack commented, was that a lot of sitting candidates had been re-elected.

"I suppose from Fianna Fáil’s point of view, it’s pleasing that we managed to retain the nine seats that we had and I want to make particular mention of our three outgoing councillors in Mullingar."

He said he believes the people on the ground recognise when people are working hard on their behalf.