Tallies looking positive for Portlaoise Local Election Fianna Fáil candidate Naeem Iqbal

By lunchtime on Saturday, Local Election tallies were looking positive for Portlaoise Municipal District candidate Naeem Iqbal to potentially take a seat, his second time around to put himself forward for election.

The Fianna Fáil candidate and accountant remains cautious but calm, speaking to the Leinster Express / Laois Live at the count centre before lunchtime on Saturday.

"I am relaxed, we did what we could do, we put our best effort into it. We saw a tremendous response on the doorsteps.

"Tally wise, its looking on the Fianna Fáil chart at about 14% so far, but only a quarter of the boxes are opened yet. I'd be able to do a fair assessment around 2pm, it's too early to predict," he said.

He failed to be elected in the 2019 local elections as an Independent, but said he has been busy since, as a volunteer public representative for the Portlaoise community, raising their issues to Laois County Council or to local TDs. 

It was through that work that he was noticed and invited by Fianna Fáil to run for them this time around.

"I said yes because I saw that they really took on Brexit, they took on housing, the economy is up, and unemployment is down."

Despite having some election posters defaced by racist slurs, he reports a positive reception on Portlaoise doorsteps. The biggest issues he campaigned on are for more school places, third level education, GPs, alleviation of traffic, more housing and a sports complex.

"This community and country have very big hearts. I am not trying to exaggerate, I have seen a very good response. They want to listen to you. They don't look at your colour. When I spoke they did not differentiate between me and others. I saw a tremendous response.

"When you see negative feedback on social media, and you look at the accounts of those people posting, they are probably not in Ireland. They are trying to curate that hate in society. But Irish people, they know their history here, they are not going to buy that," Naeem said.

One in four Portlaoise residents have been born outside of Ireland, as the growing town continues to attract multiple cultures. Yet the seven sitting councillors in Portlaoise Municipal District are Laois natives.

"We definitely need representation of the big migrant population community. But I always say, when we are here we are one. 

"In the last five years, if I look at the people I represented to the county council, over 70% are Irish. I believe in that. I want to represent everybody. I don't want to divide society into pieces, into migrant and non migrant, Muslim or Christian. I'll do my best for everyone," he said.