Today is the final day of campaigning ahead of tomorrow’s Local and European elections.
Clare FM’s Gavin Grace has been looking ahead to this important vote
Following a somewhat muted campaign, tomorrow sees voting in the local elections, with over 93,000 people throughout County Clare eligible to have their say.
Spread out across the electoral areas of Ennis, Ennistymon, Killaloe, Kilrush and Shannon, voters will select from a total of 51 candidates who are vying for 28 seats.
The total number of candidates is down on the last elections of five years ago, and with five retiring Councillors there will be new faces on the local authority.
Voters here will also have the opportunity to vote in the European elections, with 23 candidates to be listed on the Ireland South ballot paper that will be over 2ft in length.
And there will be voting too in a referendum in which voters will be asked whether or not they want to ease the current legislation in Ireland on the regulation of divorce.
Voting begins from 7 a.m. tomorrow and continues until 10 p.m., after which time the ballot boxes will be taken to the count centre, Treacy’s West County Hotel in Ennis.
Counting will begin on Saturday morning, but with three sets of ballot papers to be sorted, and referendum papers to be counted first, it will likely be well into Saturday evening before the first candidates are elected.
However, as usual, tally men and women will be examining the counting process, and from early Saturday we should begin to have some idea of the make-up of the new County Council.
Clare FM will be broadcasting live from the count centre throughout the weekend, with hourly updates throughout Saturday, and full live coverage from 6 pm on Saturday evening, as well as the best in online coverage on our website, www.clare.fm
The candidates have had their say – soon, it’ll be time for you to do likewise.
