This article is from page 12 of the 2011-05-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
FIFTY years after Shannon Town was born, it finally has an Oireachtas member thanks to Tony Mulcahy’s election to Seanad Éireann – a victory the former Mayor of Clare and Shannon had dedicated to the power of the social media site, Facebook.
On being elected to the upper house on the Labour Panel after the 13th count, Senator Mulcahy told The Clare People that it was the reaction to his General Election bid on Facebook that inspired him to launch his Seanad Éireann campaign.
“I was told to read the Facebook page. I read it on the Monday night after the General Election and the volume of goodwill messages that I got – people telling me to give it another go – was what prompted me to go for the Senate,” he said.
“That drove it home for me. I was going to leave it after the General Election and I decided after that to give it one good lash. It was from Malin Head to Mizen Head and every bit of it to get elected but it was worth it.”
Senator Mulcahy first stood for election in 1999 when winning a seat on both Shannon Town Council and Clare County Council, seats that he subsequently retained in the 2004 and 2009 local elections.
His first Oireachtas election was in 2007 when he polled 3.408 first preference votes in the General Election, a figure he doubled to 6,829 in the February 2011 election.
After the General Election, Senator Mulcahy, who served as Mayor of Clare from 2009 to 2010 and is the current Mayor of Shannon, was selected by the local Fine Gael organisation in Clare to contest the Seanad election, a nomination that was endorsed by party leader Enda Kenny.
“This brings closure on the General Election. We were over four months on the road. I was asked to stand in the General Election on December 19 and was added to the ticket on January 10,” said Senator Mulcahy.
“It was a tough campaign, a much different campaign to the General Election, but one that I threw myself into, once I made the decision to give it a go. I think it’s a great day for Shannon Town that it finally has an Oireachtas member.
“I say that because there was a strong view out there that people wanted an Oireachtas member from the town of Shannon and the Shannon electoral area. Shannon needed an Oireachtas member – Shannon is a major promoter for business and investment,” he added.