Good voter turnout is predicted

Signs are positive for a good voter turnout on Leeside tomorrow despite a short run-up to the 2024 General Election.

That’s according to the CEO of Ireland’s Electoral Commission, Art O’Leary, who was in Cork on Monday as part of a campaign to promote engagement with tomorrow’s (Friday’s) general election.

Mr O’Leary said interactions with the people on the streets of Cork city were “heartwarming” and more positive than in some other parts of the country he has visited. “They were very engaged people; stopped to chat, all took the leaflets in a way that hasn't been the case when we were out and about all over the country over the last couple of weeks,” Mr O’Leary told the Cork Independent.

“The future of the country is in good hands,” he added.

More than 100 students attended a talk by Mr O’Leary at UCC after which he dedicated half an hour to questions.

“Pretty much everyone in the room is going to vote on Friday, which is a great sign. If the students who attended are anything to go by, we'd see a 100% turnout,” Mr O’Leary added.

The Electoral Commission, an independent body established in 2023 to oversee all elections in Ireland, has run three campaigns this year which have resulted in 423,000 new voters registered. 100,000 of these registered in November alone.

With 2020’s general election marking an all-time low in voter turnout, Mr O’Leary said the Electoral Commission is hoping for a significantly improved number this year. “In 2020, we voted on a Saturday which actually does make a difference, we dropped by 2%.”

He added: “For people like working parents, Saturdays are like Christmas Eve you know, there's kids to be dropped to GAA and swimming and there's a big shop to be done.”

Regarding the short three-week run-in to the elections, Mr O’Leary said data collected during this year’s local and European elections suggests it makes little difference to voting in Ireland.

“Irish people don't really turn their minds to the issue until the days leading up to the event,” he said.

He continued: “In the European Parliament election in June, 28% of people decided who to vote for in the last 24 hours. That's extraordinary.

“Maybe it's an Irish thing. You know the way we check our passports the day before we go on holiday. It might be a cultural thing,” Mr O’Leary concluded.

All to play for in Cork

With Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and Fine Gael all locked closely together in the latest national opinion polls, we are likely in for a somewhat chaotic General Election.

Senior Lecturer at UCC’s Department of Government & Politics, Dr Aodh Quinlivan highlighted Cork South-Central as a particularly fascinating constituency due to an extra seat being added and two sitting TDs, Simon Coveney (FG) and Michael McGrath (FF), not running this year.

Having topped the poll in 2020, Sinn Féin’s Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire will be confident while Fianna Fáil can expect two seats through party leader Micheál Martin and either Seamus McGrath or Margaret Kenneally, Dr Quinlivan said.

He continued: “Fine Gael took a combined 21 per cent of the first preference vote in 2020 and will hope to claim a seat this time, but who will it be – Jerry Buttimer, Úna McCarthy or Shane O’Callaghan? The fifth seat could produce an almighty battle.

“Former lord mayor Mick Finn is a popular candidate and appears to have some momentum behind him, while current councillors, Laura Harmon (Labour) and Pádraig Rice (Social Democrats) may well be in the mix.

“It certainly is a constituency to watch,” added Dr Quinlivan.

With Cork-North Central now expanded to include Ballincollig and Mallow, and with an extra seat added, Dr Quinlivan anticipates a “fierce contest”.

He said: “The four incumbent TDs – Mick Barry (People Before Profit-Solidarity), Colm Burke (FG), Thomas Gould (SF) and Pádraig O’Sullivan (FF) – are in poll position and the aim of Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, and Fine Gael is to grasp a second seat.

“However, their hopes may well be dashed by Labour’s John Maher who is running an energetic campaign or Independent Ireland’s Ken O’Flynn,” Dr Quinlivan concluded.

Cork South Central

Many believe this will be one of the most interesting constituencies when the results start coming in.

This area had four TDs representing it, but it is now a five seater constituency. These were An Tánaiste Micheál Martin (Fianna Fáil) and Sinn Féin’s Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire. Simon Coveney of Fine Gael is retiring from politics while Michael McGrath (Fianna Fáil) was appointed EU Commisioner designate for Democracy, Justice and Rule of Law earlier this year.

Who gets the fifth seat? Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will be hoping for it when each party is running three candidates here.

These are the candidates:

Deputy Micheál Martin - Fianna Fáil

Cllr Séamus McGrath - Fianna Fáil

Margaret Kenneally - Fianna Fáil

Senator Jerry Buttimer – Fine Gael

Cllr Shane O’Callaghan – Fine Gael

Cllr Úna McCarthy – Fine Gael

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire - Sinn Féin

Michelle Cowhey Shahid – Sinn Féin

Cllr Laura Harmon – Labour Party

Cllr Pádraig Rice - Social Democrats

Ted Neville - National Party

Monica Oikeh - Green Party

Anna Daly - Aontú

Shane Laird - People Before Profit

Veronica Houlihan - Independent Ireland

Valerie Ward - Independent Ireland

Lorna Bogue – Rabharta

Mick Finn – Independent

Graham de Barra – Independent

Cllr Paudie Dineen – Independent

Tony Field – Independent

John O'Leary – Independent

Cork East

ork East has seen changes losing Mallow, Buttevant and Doneraile to a boundary redraw.

A four-seat constituency, its outgoing TDs are Sinn Féin’s Pat Buckley, Fianna Fáil’s James O’Connor, Labour’s Seán Sherlock and Fine Gael’s David Stanton. Sherlock’s departure from politics means leaving a seat first won by his family 40 years ago. Also choosing not to run is Fine Gael’s David Stanton, although his son Mark hopes to replace him. Four years on from a poll-topping result, Sinn Féin’s Pat Buckley is going for his third Dáil term, while Fianna Fáil’s James O’Connor aims to earn his first re-election. Also running for Fianna Fáil is Cllr Deirdre O’Brien, whose father Ned O’Keefe served as a TD for 29 years. Smaller parties like Independent Ireland, People Before Profit, Social Democrats, and Aontú are running too and with 2 TDs retiring, this presents them with an opportunity.

These are the candidates:

Kathryn Bermingham - Independent Ireland

Deputy Pat Buckley - Sinn Féin

Ross Cannon - Independent

Cllr Mary Linehan Foley - Non-party

Catherine Lynch - Independent Ireland

Cllr Noel McCarthy - Fine Gael

Asch Ní Fhinn - People Before Profit - Solidarity

Cllr Deirdre O’Brien - Fianna Fáil

Deputy James O’Connor - Fianna Fáil

Clíona O’Halloran - Green Party

John O’Leary - Independent

Cllr William O’Leary - Independent

James-Peter O’Sullivan - The Irish People

Mehdi Özçinar - Sinn Féin

Cllr Liam Quaide - Social Democrats

Frank Roche - Independent

Mark Stanton - Fine Gael

Mona Stromsoe - Aontú

Cork South West

With 14 candidates including 2 party leaders and just 3 seats available in the Cork South-West constituency, it’s going to be a tight race, especially with Independent Ireland party leader, Michael Collins expected to retain his seat.

Fianna Fáil’s only candidate, Christopher O'Sullivan and Social Democrats party leader, Holly Cairns will both be hoping to retain their seats too.

They will be up against strong opposition however, with Fine Gael desperate to win back a seat in the constituency through one of the party’s two candidates.

These are the candidates running in this constituency in this year’s General Election:

Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan - Fianna Fáil

Claire O'Callaghan - Sinn Féin

Donnchadh Ó Seaghdha - Sinn Féin

Senator Tim Lombard - Fine Gael

Cllr Noel O'Donovan - Fine Gael

Mary Ryder - Green Party

Evie Nevin - Labour

Deputy Holly Cairns - Social Democrats

Zoe Laplaud - People Before Profit - Solidarity

Deputy Michael Collins - Independent Ireland

Mairead Ruane - Aontú

Cllr Alan Coleman - Independent

John O’Leary - Independent

Deborah O'Driscoll - The Irish People

Cork North Central

Cork North Central has undergone quite major changes gaining Ballincollig and part of Mallow. It goes from four to five seats as a result.

Last time around, Sinn Féin’s Thomas Gould topped the poll and he could get his running mate Joe Lynch over the line.

Fianna Fáil’s Pádraig O’Sullivan should retain his seat while Cllr Tony Fitzgerald is in with a shout of a second seat for the party. Fine Gael’s Colm Burke is expected to hold his seat, while Cllr Garret Kelleher is in the mix too.

Independent Ireland’s Cllr Ken O’Flynn polled very well in the local elections and is in with a strong chance of a seat. The Labour Party is running two candidates, one in the city and one based in Mallow - a Labour stronghold. Their bold strategy could get one of their candidates elected. People Before Profit - Solidarity’s Mick Barry will be in the mix for the last seat, but the boundary changes do him no favours.

These are the candidates:

Deputy Mick Barry - People Before Profit - Solidarity

Derek Blighe - Ireland First

Deputy Colm Burke - Fine Gael

Martin Condon - Independent

Imelda Daly - Fine Gael

John Donohoe - Independent

Susan Doyle - Social Democrats

Cllr Tony Fitzgerald - Fianna Fáil

Deputy Thomas Gould - Sinn Féin

Rachel Hurley Roche - Worker’s Party

Cllr Garret Kelleher - Fine Gael

Eoghan Kenny - Labour Party

Joe Lynch - Sinn Féin

Cllr John Maher - Labour Party

Ciarán McCarthy - Social Democrats

Cllr Oliver Moran - Green Party

Sandra Murphy Kelleher - Fianna Fáil

Cllr Ken O’Flynn - Independent Ireland

Deputy Pádraig O’Sullivan - Fianna Fáil

Joseph Peters - Independent

Finian Toomey - Aontú

Cork North West

Cork North West has seen recent boundary changes, losing Ballincollig to Cork North Central, while also gaining significant territory. Outgoing TDs in the region are Fine Gael’s Michael Creed, and Fianna Fáil’s Michael Moynihan and Aindrias Moynihan. Though he topped the poll in 2020, Michael Creed has chosen not too contest in this election, with Fine Gael conveniently replacing him with his namesake and cousin, Cllr Michael Creed. Also running for Fine Gael is the Kanturk-based Cllr John Paul O’Shea. Considered a safe constituency for Fine Gael Creeds and Fianna Fáil Moynihans for 43 years, the recent boundary changes threaten the status quo. Also running is Becky Kealy of Aontú, Colette Finn of the Green Party, and first time Sinn Féin candidate Nicole Ryan.

These are the candidates:

Ellen Barry - Independent Ireland

Cllr Michael Creed - Fine Gael

Colette Finn - Green Party

Becky Kealy - Aontú

Joe Moore - People Before Profit - Solidarity

Deputy Aindrias Moynihan - Fianna Fáil

Deputy Michael Moynihan - Fianna Fáil

John O’Leary - Independent

Cllr John Paul O’Shea - Fine Gael

Nicole Ryan - Sinn Féin

Walter Ryan-Purcell - Independent

Additional reporting by Brian Hayes Curtin, Niamh Áine Ryan and Finnian Cox