Mother's pride

Brady elected in Bailieborough Cootehill Electoral Area

​Carmel Brady was surrounded by her tight knit family as she celebrated her reelection in Bailieborough Cootehill. She was almost upstaged by her mother, Eileen Fitzpatrick as relatives and friends sat in for photos.

"I feel over the moon!" said the matriarch of the Fitzpatrick clan of her daughter's reelection. "I really do.

"And she deserves everything she gets that girl, because she is a worker in every line, and is good to everybody."

The Celt teasingly asked if she voted for her?

"I certainly did," replied the 93 year old.

Eileen wasn't alone.

Carmel won 1,684 first preference votes, an impressive performance given that she was in a congested Cootehill field. It was also a massive improvement on the 1,021 votes she achieved in 2019.

The first preferences were just a few dozen votes shy of the quota, so she had all night and this morning to wait for the official confirmation this afternoon.

"Every minute here feels like an hour," she said.

"Thank God I'm across the line now. I'm delighted!"

She put her success down to making a personal connection with people.

"At the end of the day you have to meet the people. I know people say about leaflet drops but when you look somebody in the face and say what's your issue? And chat to them, a lot of them just want to vent and get it off their chest.

"That's what it's all about - I love meeting people. "