Cllr Kelleher emerges as big spender
TWO RETAINED SEATS AT LOW COST
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SOCIALIST Party Town Councillor, Terry Kelleher, was the highest spender during the Balbriggan Town Council election, figures have revealed.
Cllr Kelleher, who also ran in the county council elections, was elected for the first time after shelling out some € 6,861, all of which was received from other sources and of which 5% was spent on Joe Higgins' European Election campaign. 40% of his election expenses were funded by his party, while his colleague, Cllr Clare Daly, donated € 1,455 and in total, Cllr Kelleher spent € 5,249 on printing leaflets, his manifesto and other election literature.
Fianna Fáil's Cllr Dermot Murray spent the second highest figure, with a total outlay of € 4,396, € 2,442 of which came from elsewhere, with a number of donations not exceeding the € 634.87 threshold and € 1,454 coming from his party.
Another newly-elected councillor, Grainne Maguire, spent € 3,480 on her campaign - taking the seat her mother, Cllr May McKeon vacated - € 50 of which came from her own pocket, with the remainder coming from other sources.
Fine Gael's Larry Dunne retained his seat after spending € 3,327, while again € 50 was of his own funding, with € 2,769 going on posters, the highest outlay in the ward.
Labour's Grainne Kilmurry was elected at the first time of asking, with an expenditure of € 2,800, while the Green Party's Stephen Kilgallon was arguably the biggest casualty, losing his seat despite spending € 1,575, € 1,000 of which came from the Fingal Greens.
First-time councillor, Peadar O'Kelly, racked up a € 1,510 outlay of his own finances, while Sinn Fein candidate, Fergus Byrne, funded € 1,300 of the € 1,420 his ultimately unsuccessful campaign cost. The
Green's
Frank Snowe was his party's one ray of light, forking out € 1,245 on his campaign, € 800 of which was his own funding, while Angela Hegedus was another relatively big spender who lost out, with a tally of € 1,157.
Two sitting councillors retained their seats at a reasonably low cost, with Sean Brown spending € 988 – although he did spend a further € 4,935 on his county council election run – and Monica Harford's campaign costing just € 200, all of which was spent on posters.
Figures for Fine Gael's Lorna Kelso and Vilma Moceviciene were unavailable, along with independent candidate, Paula McKenzie.
- Robin KIELY
