Fine Gael on precarious election ground in Laois after councillor quits

The departure of Cllr Aisling Moran from Fine Gael arguably leaves the party on unsteady ground going into the Local Elections next year with her resignation of no help in the next General Election either.

The schism between her and her party had emerged a long time back and, in truth, the breaking point would have been reached sooner or later so bad were the relationships with other FG councillors.

Now the party is in the unenviable position of trying to figure out an election strategy with one less sitting county councillor going into the 2024 elections.

The party has already lost two sitting councillors since 2019 to retirement. Their replacements, Cllr Barry Walsh and Cllr PJ Kelly, while capable councillors, have never faced the electorate.

The pair replaced Mary Sweeney and Tom Mulhall who must be regarded as heavyweights of the Laois political scene over decades. 

The party now has just one seat in the big and growing Portartlarlington Graiguecullen Municipal District. Success in it requires candidates to have a strong base in some area.

Fine Gael formally ratified Vivienne Phelan as a new Local Area Representative for the District not long before Cllr Moran resigned. Ms Phelan unsuccessfully contested the 2019 local elections and will be going up against Fianna Fáil's Cllr Paschal McEvoy and her party colleague Cllr Kelly in the broader Stradbally area. 

Cllr Moran is based in East Laois and will fancy her chances of retaining local support next time out in an area of the county that's not overcrowded with candidates. 

Elsewhere in the county, Fine Gael holds two seats in the Mountmellick Borris-in-Ossory District and three in Portlaoise District.

After a period of Fianna Fáil dominance Fine Gael has had some hold on power in Laois since 2004. This peaked in 2009 when the party won nearly half the seats on offer.  The party took a battering in 2014 losing six seats.

It recovered one of these in 2019 but also saw three first-time candidates return and ended up in a power-sharing deal with seven seats with six  Fianna Fáil councillors. It was a good election for the party.

But a lot of political water has flowed under the bridge since.

The party is already on rocky ground with the electorate nationally in the opinion polls. While Charlie Flanagan is probably Fine Gael's most senior backbencher, the party is down to just one Dáil seat in Laois and Offaly.

So against this backdrop, navigating a course to retaining all seven seats on Laois County Council in 2024 will not be an easy challenge. Cllr Moran's departure and her public reasons for quitting won't help them one bit.