Two FG election candidates to run in Swinford electoral area

FINE Gael members have ratified two candidates to run for the June county council elections in the Swinford electoral area.

Two nominations went before the local convention - ongoing Foxford Councillor Neil Cruise and new candidate and law graduate 22-year-old Antoinette Peyton, Killasser.

The convention, in the Gateway Hotel, was presided over by Willie Geraghty, chairman of the Fine Gael Executive Council.

Councillor Cruise was proposed by Castlebar Councillor Donna Sheridan and seconded by Martin Brogan, Foxford. Ms. Peyton was proposed by Swinford businessman Tom Lavin and seconded by Imelda Kelly.

Accepting his nomination, Councillor Cruise outlined in detail his hard work for the entire Swinford area since he was first elected in 2014. He was putting his name before the electorate again confident that his achievements and track record spoke for themselves.

Central to his political philosophy is his emphasis on local. All politics is local. As the only Fine Gael Councillor in the Swinford District he has represented a huge area from Foxford to the outskirts of Ballyhaunis.

He outlined his five policy priorities which would be his platform going forward.

Antoinette Peyton said she felt honoured and humbled to be inheriting the proud mantle carried with distinction by her predecessors Anthony Joe Peyton, Douglas Kelly, Tommy O'Hara, Charles Kelly, Sean McEvoy, John M. Flannery and three generations of the Mellett family.

For the first time since the foundation of the State, Swinford town and the environs does not have a councillor, she said. She wants to fill that void.

She joined Young Fine Gael in university, she said, became she admires Fine Gael for its integrity and by always putting the country first. Many young people are turning more and more to populist parties 'with slogans but no solutions'. She wants to give them a voice.

“My focus, if elected, will be to enhance Swinford as a place where young people want to live, to raise a family and grow,” she said.

Deputies Alan Dillon and Michael Ring also addressed the convention, which was also attended by new candidates, Ballyhaunis-based Alma Gallagher, who is running in the Claremorris district, and Westport candidate Kiera Keogh.

Ballyhaunis Councillor John Cribbin, who is retiring after 25 years, received a standing ovation.