Poll topper Goldsboro puts her name forward for Fianna Fáil candidacy in General Election

Imelda Goldsboro’s poll-topping performance for a second Carrick-on-Suir LEA election in a row puts her in a strong position to secure a nomination to represent Fianna Fáil in the reformed South Tipperary constituency in the next General Election.

The Ballingarry councillor has confirmed she has put her name forward to the party to seek a nomination to run for the Dáil but pointed out it will up to a convention of Fianna Fáil members to decide who secures the candidacy.

She did contest the 2020 General Election as running mate to outgoing FF TD Jackie Cahill in the Tipperary constituency just over eight months after topping the poll in Carrick-on-Suir LEA and polled a very respectable 4,082 first preferences.

For now though she is celebrating her success in retaining her council seat.

Her 1,898 first preference vote elected her comfortably on the first count 390 votes over the Quota and 239 votes ahead of the second elected councillor David Dunne.

“It’s absolutely fantastic. I am delighted to be in a position to top the poll again so I would just like to thank everyone who came out and supported me,” she told The Nationalist.

She also paid tribute to her campaign team and family for their huge support.

Cllr Goldsboro credited her success to the hard graft she has put in working on behalf of constituents over the past five years.

The personal vote she achieved was a testament to voters trust in her as a councillor, she said.

She considers topping the poll again to be a “phenomenal achievement” as she had to contend with a new candidate from the neighbouring parish of Killenaule – Labour’s Michael “Chicken” Brennan who secured the third seat in Carrick LEA.

She had secured 300 votes in Killenaule in 2019 so his candidacy presented a challenge to her.

Cllr Goldsboro said she looked forward to working with Cllr Brennan on the Council over the next five years.

She wasn’t the only member of her family facing a big test in their lives this month.

"It's been a hard few weeks. I have a daughter doing the Leaving Cert and a son doing the Junior Cert. It’s been a very busy few weeks in our house and it’s great to have it over now.”

Campaign issues
On the campaign trail, she said difficulties securing services and supports for elderly people was an issue constituents highlighted with her on the doorstep, particularly access to rural public transport like Local Link as quite a lot of senior citizens don’t drive.
Poor broadband was another big issue among rural constituents.

She criticised delays in rolling out the National Broadband infrastructure and service to some areas.

“It’s a service everybody needs now if you are working from home and if you have a business. It’s not so much an issue in Ballingarry but there are quite a number of blackspots throughout the district.”

Now that the Local Election campaign is over, Cllr Goldsboro is looking forward to continuing working on helping several sports and community organisations like Cloneen Sports & Social Club, Killenaule and Mullinahone GAA Clubs that are submitting significant funding applications to Government for upgrades to their facilities.

She credited Fianna Fáil’s success in once again securing the election of two councillors in Carrick-on-Suir LEA to the fact the party delivered for the district as one of the Government coalition parties over the past five years.

She pointed to €40,000 funding secured towards a new €55,000 bus for the Irish Wheelchair Association and recent funding announced for Fethard Day Care Centre as examples of this.

She said it was very easy for independent public representatives to sit on the fence and criticise and not be in a position to make difficult decisions.

But when you are in a Government party, you do have the power through access to ministers and their departments to benefit your constituency.

“It’s a win, win situation for everyone,” she said.