Elections 2024: A fight for every vote in east of the city
Crime and housing are top of the list of concerns in City East
SIX OF the seven sitting councillors in Limerick City East are seeking to be reelected once again to the city and county council.
The seventh outgoing councillor in the district is Michael Sheahan of Fine Gael, who has opted this time to contest in the Adare-Rathkeale municipal district.
There are seven seats allocated for Limerick City East and the six current councillors hoping to be returned are Fine Gael’s Sarah Kiely and Michael Murphy, Fianna Fail’s Catherine Slattery and Joe Pond, Seán Hartigan for the Green Party and Elena Secas for Labour.
Cllr Joe Pond was not directly elected in the previous local elections in 2019 but was chosen by his party, Fianna Fail, to fill the seat following the untimely death of Cllr Jerry O’Dea who passed away in June, 2022.
That was the second time Cllr Pond was co-opted into a seat - in 2016 he replaced Shane Clifford, who stepped down.
Cllr Catherine Slattery topped the polls the last time in 2019, with an overall first preference vote of 1,188. Labour’s Elena Secas followed closely behind with 1,162 while Fine Gael’s Michael Murphy was third with 1,157.
Sinn Féin have three confirmed candidates running this time: Ursula Gavan, Mike Killeen and Danielle O’Shea.
They did have Seighin O Ceallaigh run in the previous election but he did not receive enough votes to retain his seat on the 2019 council.
Among the 16 hopeful candidates going before the voters, nine are first-time candidates.
One of those is Independent candidate, Dean Lillis. Mr Lillis is an RSA-approved driving instructor based in Castleconnell.
Other newcomers who hope to get sufficient votes include Social Democrats candidate and Annacotty-based Donnah Vuma, Michael O’Brien of the relatively new political party Rabharta, and secondary school teacher, Eric Nelligan of Aontú.
The newcomer for Fine Gael is Peter Doyle of Castletroy, who is a former president of Old Crescent RFC.
Also among the new names to contest the local election is Independent candidate Tally Slater. Patrick McCarthy has contested the local election before in City North.
Will the electorate opt for sitting candidates who offer stability, or new contenders who bring freshness and a different energy?
Time will tell!
Limerick City East candidates
Seats: 7 Candidates: 16
Peter Doyle - Fine Gael
Ursula Gavan - Sinn Féin
Seán Hartigan - Green Party / Comhaontas Glas
Sarah Kiely - Fine Gael
Mike Killeen - Sinn Féin
Dean Lillis - Non-party
Patrick McCarthy - Non-party
Michael Murphy - Fine Gael
Eric Nelligan - Aontú
Michael O’Brien - No party listed
Danielle O’Shea - Sinn Féín
Joe Pond - Fianna Fáil
Elena Secas - Labour Party
Tally Slater - Non-party
Catherine Slattery - Fianna Fáil
Donnah Vuma - Social Democrats