'Fifth time to run, first time to top the poll'

Balljamesduff MD poll-topper is Midlands-Northwest's Ciaran Mullooly's alternative for Europe.

Independent Ireland's Shane P O'Reilly doesn't quite believe the non-party wave expected to hit in 2019 has swept through the country, but five years late. Even still he is buoyed by the fact the public appears more ready than ever to vote along non-party lines, as the Balljamesduff MD poll-topper prepares to head to Castlebar on Sunday having been selected as Midlands-Northwest's Ciaran Mullooly's alternative for Europe.

Regardless of what way that swings, the soon to be re-elected Mullagh representative has one eye on the coming months and the potential of him mounting a possible challenge for a Dáil seat.

O'Reilly, who defected from Fianna Fáil in 2020 citing “irreconcilable differences”, is a founding member of Independent Ireland (II), who previously served its precursor (Rural Independent Group) as liaison officer for Connaught-Ulster.

He looks on course to claim 15.2% of the tallied vote, and even top the poll countywide this election.

“I have my village, and I've said it so many times, I left my parish with 1,045 votes. When your area comes out behind you like that, its clear they value the work you do. I'm very proud of what we've done today. Fifth time to run, first time to top the poll.”

Of leaving Fianna Fáil and standing on his own platform, he quips: “That's a decison I made and the people came with me.”

Of the people who felt his vote might drop off, O'Reilly says it was only certain sections that believed he might falter, but that the “people believed in me”.

“That certainly wasn't what I was getting on the doors. The people are very loyal. I do my work. I haven't been there for 20 years for the craic. We went this time on the slogan of 'Tried, Tested, Trusted', and it paid off.”

O'Reilly was run close for a seat in 2014, and bounced back in 2019. Now standing with II he reflects: “We fully intend to contest the next General Election in Cavan-Monaghan and we'll see where it goes from there.”

O'Reilly, who ran but failed to get elected to the Seanad twice, says he is “undecided” which house he will run for election to. He's not ruling out standing for both. “We'll talk to the rest of the boys who are also founding members of Independent Ireland, which I am, and we'll see how we get on. We've had a good day today.”

O'Reilly says he's “very proud” of how II have done nationally, having personally worked wirth several councillors nationally to ready them for standing for election.

“Matthew Maroney in Clare, I would have done a lot of work with him, Fergus McDonald in Edenderry in Offaly, a lot of work with Willie Cartin and Ryan McKeown in Kildare. Great guys.”

He adds that while there is still an obvious main party vote out there, that “people have opened their horizons to alternative view. My view has been the same, for quite a long time. The only thing I'll say I suppose is that I've been able now to articulate that view and I have been able to perhaps go at things in a different way that heretofore maybe I couldn't.”

Reflecting on the reponse he received in the ballot boxes, O'Reilly says he's “numb” and “wasn't expecting it”, especially with Sinn Féin placing a candidate- Angela Gaffney- in the same village as he's from.

When early turnout figures were coming in on Friday, Mullagh was counting at over 20 per cent when others were only at around half that.

“I thought second or fourth seat maybe, I thought I'd be alright, but when I saw the numbers coming out for home today, Sinn Féin had a candidate close to me, so what you'd worried about was if the people were out for them or for me, but actually my vote was up. Its unbelievable.”