GE2020: The challengers looking to claim a seat in Meath West
The three incumbent TDs, Damien English, Shane Cassells and Peadar Tóibín are seeking re-election in Meath West, but there are six challengers more than ready to do battle for the three seats that are up for grabs.
One of the stronger contenders is Sinn Féin's Johnny Guirke who has a very strong base in north Meath and his party's strong grassroots structure behind him.
Cllr Guirke is on his second term as a councillor for the Kells Municipal District. He bucked the Fine Gael trend in the local election last May and increased his vote by eight per cent, and in his local area of Oldcastle increased it by over 50 per cent.
Cllr Guirke will be hoping to take back what was a Sinn Féin seat - until Peadar Tóibín resigned from the party in 2018 in a row over the vote on abortion legislation. It could be a difficult task as Deputy Tóibín has the advantage of being a TD with a high profile across the country, but with his strong local base, party grassroot support, the recent swing back towards Sinn Féin, Cllr Guirke is in with a fighting chance.
The Moylagh man first came to prominence as a campaigner of the roads issue in north Meath and is active and popular in the local community.
Fine Gael held two seats in this constituency between 2011 and 2016 and will be hoping to win back the seat lost by Ray Butler in 2016. Kells councillor, Sarah Reilly who was elected on the first count in Kells in 2019 in one of those hoping to rise to the challenge. Her first electoral outing was in the 2009 local elections when she topped the poll in the Kells Town Council elections and was elected to Meath Co Council in both 2014 and 2019.
Cllr Sarah Reilly on the campaign trail.
One of the big challengers to the current status quo is Trim's Cllr Noel French, whose phenomenal performance in the local elections last year, saw him topping the poll in the Trim Electoral Area with almost two quotas and the party taking more than 50 per cent of the vote.
He romped home to be the first person elected to Meath Co Council, with a massive vote of 2,954 - which was 1,403 votes over the Trim electoral area quota of 1,551. This is believed to be the highest vote ever achieved by a candidate in any Meath local election. He put this success down to hard work and listening to the people.
Cllr French has been a Meath county councillor since 2014, having filled a vacancy on Trim Town Council the previous year.
An author and recognised expert on the local history of Meath, he was editor of the Trim community magazine, Focus, for decades prior to becoming a councillor,
A major issue in this election, particularly for younger voters is climate action and the environment and Dr Seamus McMenamin, the Green Party candidate is likely to get a serious bounce from voters’ very genuine fears for the future of the planet.
There is no knowing how the recent footage of Australia burning and other environmental catastrophes will have on voters and Dr McMenamin could well benefit from these concerns. A popular local GP, he contested the local elections last summer, where he came close to being elected on the last count , receiving the highest Green Party vote in the constituency ever. His support for Navan Hospital will also prove popular with the voters.
Cllr Ronan Moore launching his election campaign in Trim.
A dark horse in this constituency is Ronan Moore, the Social Democrat councillor in Trim. Elected on the last count in the Trim Municipal Area in last May's local elections, Cllr Moore has been working very hard on the ground and is a fresh new face with a fresh new party, not stuck in the politics of the past. Living in Trim, he teaches in St Patrick's Classical School and his parents are from Westmeath, so he has strong connections across the constituency and may benefit from voters seeking to get away from the mainstream candidates.
Retired businessman John Malone from Oldcastle is no stranger to Meath West elections and is taking on the challenge again this year. A strongly pro-life candidate he is now a candidate for Renua, having stood in the past for The Christian and Jobs Action party. He is campaigning on issues like the rail line to Navan, lowering the retirement age and freedom of speech and has voiced his opposition to "ideology-based extreme sex education in schools."