I wish to thank my campaign team and all my supporters over the last couple of months. In the count at the RDS on Saturday I polled 639 first preference votes. This was the strongest ever showing for a socialist candidate in the constituency. On the first count we blew out of the water the two independents (Sweeney and Eblana) and the Sinn Fein candidate. This was no mean feat considering Sweeney had spent a considerable sum on promoting himself (he had also ran for the European elections as an independent) and Eblana had received a lot of media attention in his desperate attempts to promote himself variously as a poet, a jobseeker, a retired entrepreneur and the only gay in the village. The victory over Sinn Fein also demonstrated the strength of our campaign as O’Dubhlain’s candidacy gained much momentum from the Mary Lou MacDonald juggernaut.
The Evans campaign ran on a tiny budget of around 2,000 euro. The upper limit for spending was 15,000 euro – an amount evidently reached and exceeded by both the FG Murphy and FF Tubridy campaigns. Our strong tally of first preference votes saw us survive late in to the night at the RDS. The icing on the cake of what was a very successful building of People Before Profit in Ireland’s most affluent constituency came at the 4th count. We received enough transfers to surge ahead of Tubridy to 875 votes. Tubridy’s elimination was particularly sweet for all involved in the campaign. The Tubridy machine had pumped tens of thousands into the campaign in plastering his face all over the web, the print media and the wider area; according to the Irish Times Tubridy was a favourite for election due to the name recognition factor. What’s more, on the eve of the election the Tubridy team erected dozens of mini Tubridy signs around every polling station in the constituency. Unsurprisingly, Tubridy’s transfers to PBP did not amount to enough to catch the Green candidate Robbins. Fortunately, many of the Evans transfers went to help Labour retain three seats in the constituency. Finally, FG’s Murphy and Wyne were joined FF’s O’Callaghan, who sneaked in at the expense of FG’s MacCartan.
The strong showing for PBP in Pembroke-Rathmines was significant because the demographic of the area make it ostensibly very hostile territory for a left-wing candidate. However, our campaign focused on the basic needs of people and community – adequate public transport, health and education provision. These priorities obviously registered with the electorate and as all observers at the count acknowledged, we polled very strongly indeed. The day was completed by news of the election of PBP candidates Hugh Lewis, Joan Collins, Richard Boyd Barrett, Brid Smith and – at the eleventh hour – Gino Kenny. A big thank you to all campaigners, voters and well-wishers, who contributed towards a very respectable showing.
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June 9, 2009 at 9:27 am
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