New faces from FG and Labour grab Trim seats

Newcomers Ray Butler (FG) and Tracy McElhinney (Labour) were the big winners in the Trim Electoral Area, gaining seats at the expense of sitting councillors Seamus Murray (FF) and Phil Cantwell (Independant). Butler topped the poll with a convincing 1,933 first preference votes to retain the Fine Gael seat held by outgoing FG councillor Peter Higgins. The Fine Gael candidate received almost 20 per cent of the vote share and needed just 27 votes to be elected on the second count. Speaking afterwards, Cllr Butler said that to top the poll in both the town council and county council was 'unbelievable' and 'went beyond his wildest dreams'. He thanked his family and his team for their support and hard work. Tracy McElhinney from Ballivor was the other big winner. She gained a council seat in Trim for the Labour Party for the first time since former Longwood councillor Pa Lowe. Ms McElhinney gained 12.5 per cent of the vote and was elected on the fifth count without reaching the quota. A delighted Ms McElhinney said she had not been confident at all of success as it was her first time out and she never really expected to get in. She said: 'I never expected to get this far. It is a great day for the Labour Party and for Eamon Gilmore"s team. It"s also a great day for Ballivor to get its first female councillor, in fact, its first councillor.' She added that the campaign had been tough going but that she had a great husband and family behind her. The fact that the Trim area went from five seats to four was always going to put a squeeze on the sitting councillors and this factor, coupled with a national swing against Fianna Fail, saw long-standing Fianna Fail councillor Seamus Murray lose his seat. Cllr Murray was co-opted to Meath County Council to fill the vacancy left when present Transport Minister Noel Dempsey became a junior ministerin 1992 and he was re-elected on each occasion since then. Cllr Murray said he was 'devastated' to have lost his seat as he felt he had served the people well over the last 17 years and worked hard as a full-time councillor. He said people on the doorsteps were very angry over national issues and that the party"s councillors had paid the penalty as the frontline representatives, as they also did in 2004. Cllr Murray said that some of the abuse he had encountered on the doorsteps was 'vile' but he had kept calling and responded as best he could. He said he knew he would be under pressure and that it would be a 'dogfight' for the last seat between himself, Tracy McElhinney and Trevor Golden, but he thought he might take enough votes to hold on. The other casualty was independent councillor Phil Cantwell, who lost his seat after serving one term on Meath County Council. However, he retained his Trim Town Council seat. Cllr Cantwell complimented Cllrs Butler and Trevor Golden on their campaigns and said that the latter, in particular, had swept up a lot of the independent vote in Trim town and the Trim area. 'I"m pleased to get a seat on the town council and I"m honoured to represent the town. I would have liked to be still representing the people of Ballivor, Summerhill and the other rural areas but the people have spoken and I accept that,' said Cllr Cantwell. Jimmy Fegan, who is Minister Noel Dempsey"s constituency advisor, topped the poll in the 2004 election with 18 per cent of the vote, and this time around he managed to hold 16.5 per cent of the vote share despite the national swing against Fianna Fail. He was elected on the fourth count after benefiting from the bulk of Seamus Murray"s transfers. Enfield councillor Bill Carey (Fine Gael) is now the longest-serving councillor in Meath following the retirement of Oldcastle"s Michael Lynch (FF). Both were first elected in 1967. Cllr Carey was elected along with Tracy McElhinney on the fifth count without reaching the quota. Independent candidate Trevor Golden polled extremely well on his first outing for the county council, clocking up 1,060 first preference votes, or 11 per cent of the vote share. While Cllr Cantwell"s transfers put him ahead of Seamus Murray, he did not gain enough from Cllr Murray"s transfers when he was eliminated or Cllr Fegan"s surplus to keep him in contention for the last two seats, which went to Carey and McElhinney. Eighteen-year-old student Eoghan Farrell from Longwood received 136 first preferences and was the first candidate to be eliminated, followed by Caroline Lynch (Sinn Fein) who polled 479 first preferences.