Local area profile - Sligo: Despite an expected swing against Fianna Fáil, little change is expected in Sligo following the local elections. There will be some new faces, but they are expected mainly to reflect changes within parties rather than a major shift in the balance of power between them.
In 1999 Fine Gael won 11 seats on the county council, compared to nine for Fianna Fáil, two for Labour and one for Sinn Féin. While Fine Gael feel there is a strong wind behind the party at the moment, they suffer from two obstacles that will inhibit them capitalising on it.
Their dominant figure on the council was John Perry TD, now national director of elections for the party. He abandoned his local area of Ballymote to seek a seat in the Strandhill area, which he won. He did not take the councillors' redundancy package in September, preferring to serve out his term, and his seat is now being sought by two new candidates, Imelda Henry and Jarlath Hunt, running along with sitting councillor Tony McLaughlin. The party is confident of retaining Perry's seat, though other parties are more sceptical. However, Imelda Henry is the daughter of a former Fine Gael councillor, and will enjoy name recognition as a result.
The other problem for Fine Gael is that they lost one of their councillors when Jim McGarry defected to the Labour Party. They hope to win back his seat in Strandhill. However, his defection may be a mixed blessing. His leaving Fine Gael followed years of disputes with his party colleagues over nominations to committees, culminating in the party's refusal to nominate him for mayor of Sligo.
He sought admission to the Progressive Democrats, but was turned down, and then applied to the Labour Party. Local activists were less than enthusiastic, but, according to party sources, they were told by party headquarters that he had to be admitted. Eventually his admission was accepted by one vote in the Sligo West ward branch of the party.
The party remains deeply split on the issue, and has not had a constituency meeting since January. The question now is whether he will retain his vote, as he no longer enjoys the Fine Gael label. He is also unlikely to pick up many Labour votes, as he had a history of voting against the party until his defection. However, he has a large personal vote, so it is likely he will keep his seat, though with a reduced vote.
Sinn Féin is hoping to capitalise on the disarray in the Labour ranks, and is running candidates in all except one of the electoral areas in the county.
Their best hope of an additional seat is in north Sligo, where their candidate is Desmond Skeffington, and there are six seats. They are also running in the west of the county, but there three out of the four Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael candidates are sitting councillors, and there are only three seats. In the Ballymote area there are five seats, two each for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and one non-party, and both Sinn Féin and the Labour Party are seeking to capitalise on the anti-Government vote there. Neither of the smaller parties has a candidate in the rural electoral area of Tubbercurry, which at present has two Fine Gael councillors, one Fianna Fáil and one Independent.
Fianna Fáil has lost sitting TD Jimmy Devins, but is expected to hold his seat with Pat McSharry, a nephew of the former EU commissioner, running for the first time. Jude Devins, no relation to the deputy, is running again in the Sligo north ward and is likely to do well. Senator Eamonn Scanlon also left with the end of the dual mandate, but his seat is expected to be held.
The issues in the constituency differ widely between Sligo town and the rural areas. In the town crime and anti-social behaviour has become a big issue, along with infrastructural issues. The long-running saga of traffic and the building of the relief road remains, as the road has not yet been built. A new issue has emerged where the new owners of Lissadell House have closed off an access road through the estate that runs to a beach used by Sligo people for generations.
In the rural part of the constituency, planning and development are issues. The lack of investment in the west generally and the state of the roads are issues on which the opposition parties feel Fianna Fáil is vulnerable.