'Thanks to all the people who stood loyal to me over the last 20 years'

Cllr Winston Bennett set to begin his fifth term in office.

Fine Gael’s Cllr Winson Bennet was elected alongside Cllr Philip Brady (FF) to the Ballyjamesduff Municipal District on the seventh count at Cavan’s Leisure Centre this evening.

Four seats have now been filled on the MD - Cllr Shane P O’Reilly (II) and Cllr Trevor Smith (FG) were deemed elected during the early hours of this morning. Speaking to the Anglo Celt, Cllr Bennett - who is now entering his fifth term in the local political arena - indicated his “delight” at having “gotten over the line”.

“I want to thank all my canvassers, some of whom have been with me since the very first day and all the people who have stood loyal to me over the last 20 years,” he continued. “I hope that I don’t let those people down during the next five years.”

By the time counting finishes later tonight, Fine Gael will have returned its three sitting councillors to the Ballyjamesduff Municipal District. This, Cllr Bennett, believes is a fete that is unique to the MD when looking at the national outlook. However, nationally Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael now have more than 130 councillors elected.

“I want to compliment Trevor and TP because they are excellent councillors who work very hard,” added Cllr Bennett. “In fact we all work in tandem for the people that elected us and the voting strategy we used worked.

Living just outside Ballinagh, Cllr Bennett found himself in an area that had six or seven candidates all vying for seats on the Ballyjamesduff Municipal District living within a six mile radius of eachother.

He says there were times when he “felt up against it”. “Look it worked out well for me and I got off to a hairystart when the counting began yesterday morning. When I came into the count centre I realsied that I had gotten 165 votes in an Arva box and I have to say, that really lifted my heart. From then on, it was plain sailing.”