Fay gets hero's welcome home
Independent elected in Count 1 with 1,627, a rise of nearly 32% on 2019 (1,236).
At the count centre when his election was declared in the early hours of Sunday morning Brendan Fay believes the occasion overtook the emotion.
Elected in Count 1 with 1,627, a rise of nearly 32% on 2019 (1,236), he celebrated yes, as one would expect, arms in the air, hugs from family and friends, and the customary handshakes. But it was only when he turned the corner on to Belturbet's Main Street and saw the large gathering waiting to welcome his return that the weight of his achievement truly came to bear.
Relief had gone out the door at the count centre and replaced almost with a seemingly relentless sense anticipation. It was known for hours almost that the announcement would be made- he and Fianna Fáil's Áine Smith were in first in Cavan-Belturbet- as the tallies numbers totted and stacks bearing their number one's were racked up.
It was only when getting out of the car and walking up the street to his pub, The Widow's, thronged with people, that Fay admits he “got a little choked up”.
His immediate thoughts went to his wife Eilish and their two boys, the people who canvassed for him, and the rest of the team behind him. “I thought about it for them. When it actually hit me was driving into Belturbet and seeing the street full. I got out of the car and walked up and I got emotional. I got a little choked up. For the first time. It was unbelievable. Everything else was so real, work, pub, canvas, talk people, nothing else for the last three months. But that was a moment. Every single emotion hit me.”
He gave a speech in the pub to those present. It went along the line of local rivalries, Belturbet Rory O'Moore's and Drumlane GAA, but how the two communities had come together to unify behind a hometown candidate.
In 2019 in Dowra Fay got no votes. This time out he received four. It all added to his road to success.
“It was great to get the vote. Humbling to get over 1,600. To be elected in back to back elections, its phenomenal. The real work starts now.”