TD’s 94-year-old mother among first to post preferences into the ballot box

There is an old political ‘policy’ of ‘voting early and often’ – and the residents of a Tuam nursing home certainly fulfilled the first part of that particular sentiment when they went to the polls a week ahead of the rest of the country.

But this was all official and above board, with two returning officers along with two members of Tuam Gardaí there to oversee proceedings, as the 30 or so residents eligible to vote cast their ballot.

It was a special day in particular for 94-year-old Sheila Canney from Ballydotia in Belclare, just a few miles from Tuam, when she cast the first vote of this general election as a resident of the local Greenpark Nursing Home.

The fact that Sheila is the mother of current Galway East TD Sean Canney made it all the more special for her as she bore a gleaming smile as she registered her vote.

She no doubt gave her son the number one – although she played her cards close to her chest at the ballot box, watched by returning officers Bernie Higgins and Anne Marie Quinn.

Sergeant Derek O’Toole and Garda Petrina Devery were also keeping a close watch on proceedings as the nursing home residents listed their preferences a week before the rest of the country.

For Cora McNamara, the owner of Greenpark Nursing Home, it was the culmination of a system that she had pioneered many years ago . . . voting in nursing homes.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app

The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.