This article is from page 2 of the 2006-10-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
FIANNA Fáil is maintaining the support of more than a third of the people in its traditional stronghold of Clare, while Fine Gael has 18 per cent of the vote.
According to the most recent poll taken in the county between September 18 and October 2, 35 per cent of the electorate said they would vote for the party, with 18 per cent opting to give their first preference vote to Fine Gael. 22 per cent were undecided, four per cent opted to support the Green Party, three pre cent Sinn Fein and three Labour.
When asked to give votes to particular candidates however, Fianna Fáil’s first preference vote increased to 42 per cent and Fine Gael’s to 33 per cent.
According to the TNS/MRBI poll for TG4, Minister of State Tony Killeen would top the poll with a surplus of five per cent, a marked increase on his 2002 outing when he received 16.32 per cent of the number ones on offer.
He received a quarter of the first preference vote in the poll of 500 people.
Not surprisingly the junior minister received 30 per cent of the first preference vote in the Corofin, Ennistymon and Ballyvaughan area. He also received 29 per cent of the vote in the Ennis area, which for the poll included Shannon and Sixmilebridge, and 25 per cent of the number ones in what is considered Timmy Dooley land – Meelick, Tulla, Scariff.
Independent James Breen who topped the poll in the last election harnessed a strong first preference vote again -18 per cent – in areas similar to Killeen.
He received 22 per cent of the first preference vote in the Ennis/Shannon area and in North Clare, while he polled ahead of Killeen in the west.
The survey outlined the west as Fine Gael Deputy Pat Breen’s stronghold, with 26 per cent of the KilrushKildysart vote.
He also polled well in east Clare at 15 per cent, but showed just seven per cent of the vote in Ennis and Shannon.
Senator Brendan Daly is, according to the poll, the most likely to take the seat vacated by Síle deValera.
Not surprisingly, Daly’s stronghold is in the west, where he polls 20 per cent of the vote, six per cent behind Pat Breen.
The senator is also strong in east Clare at 18 per cent and in north Clare at 11 per cent. If he is to secure the fourth seat with ease, he will have to build his support in the urban areas of Ennis and Shannon, where he showed a first preference vote of just five per cent.
Former Mayor of Shannon Tony Mulcahy received eight per cent of the first preference vote polling ahead of colleagues Madeleine Taylor Quinn on seven per cent and Joe Carey on five per cent of the vote. Brian Meaney (GP) showed at 6 per cent first preference.
Mulcahy received 17 per cent of the vote in Ennis/Shannon, but got no vote in the west . The poll shows that a lot of his votes were personal with just 48 per cent transferring.