Terry and Declan to retire or run again?

Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley

Speculation is rife that two behemoths of Galway City East could retire before the next Local Election, clearing the way for new faces on Galway City Council.

Rivals to Polltopper, Terry O’Flaherty (Ind), and the man who actually topped the poll last time out, Declan McDonnell (Ind), are hoping the two former Progressive Democrats will call it a day and not contest next time.

Neither is showing signs of slowing down, though. If anything, they’ve redoubled their efforts and have been more visible in the electoral ward the louder the whispers about their ‘retirements’ become.

A double bluff, perhaps. Are they giving the impression they’re going to contest again or are they flat out trying to shore up their legacy?

Of course, maybe they’re just doing what they’ve done for donkeys’ years – worked. And all this talk of retirement is just wishful thinking on the part of potential successors.

Regardless of the intentions of the ‘big two’, City East is shaping up to be very competitive.

Fine Gael plans to retake the seat lost by John Walsh in 2019. It’s been a heartland for the party for decades and not taking one out of six seats then was disastrous. It’s struggling to find an electable candidate, though, and could struggle to make an impact, given it will have been off the pitch for five years by the time voters next go to the polls.

Fianna Fáil faces a dogfight to retain its two seats (MJ Crowe and Alan Cheevers) and, as already mentioned in recent weeks, has a resurgent Sinn Féin snapping at its heels.

Independent Noel Larkin should comfortably hold on if he runs again – and could even top the poll if either or both of his fellow Independents do call it a day.

That leaves Social Democrat, Owen Hanley, in a battle with Sinn Féin – which may run two candidates – as well as Labour (which traditionally was strong in City East but bombed in 2019) and the Green Party, which polled respectably here in 2019.

A number of community activists have become more prominent in recent months. They, too, may throw their hats in the ring but are waiting for solid signals of future intent from the ‘top two’, Terry and Declan, before committing.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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