Clare has elected its four representatives for the 32nd Dail. Counting finished in Ennistymon yesterday afternoon (Sunday, February 28th) as Fine Gael managed to hold on to its two seats here. Timmy Dooley topped the poll gathering a total of 12,150 votes. Second in was Dr Michael Harty whose ‘No Doctor, No Village’ generated a total vote of 11,962 for the Kilmihil GP. There was a nervous wait for Deputies Breen and Carey who came in third and fourth place respective, without reaching the quota (10,088 Breen; 9,915 Carey). The Gilmore Gale that elected Labour’s Michael McNamara to Dail Eireann in 2011 appeared to blow itself out when the Scarriff man was eliminated, garnering only 6,844 votes by the 11th count. While he was granted a recount, no issues were discovered that would have bridged the 85-vote gap between himself and his nearest rival Michael Malty McDonagh of Fianna Fail. Mr McNamara is one of around two dozen Labour figures who came a-cropper at the polls. Currently, the party is on 6 seats, one short of the number needed to retain full speaking rights in the Dail. Speaking to Gavin this morning were Clare’s members of the 32nd Dail, Dep. Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fail; Dep. Michael Harty, Independent; Dep. Pat Breen, Fine Gael; and Dep. Joe Carey, Fine Gael.
Recounts will get underway in five constituencies to elect the remaining TD’s to the 32nd Dail. There are still TD’s to be elected in Wexford, Dublin South West, Dublin Bay North, Dublin South Central and in Longford/Westmeath with recounts set to resume later this morning. There are just ten seats still to be filled, with 148 deputies elected over the weekend. Fine Gael have 47 seats, with 43 for Fianna Fail and 22 for Sinn Fein. Labour has 6 seats, the Anti Austerity Alliance – People Before Profit group have 5 while, the Independent Alliance have 4 seats. 16 Independent Deputies have been elected, the Social Democrats have 3 seats, and the Green Party have 2. Niall O’Connor, the Political Correspondent for the Irish Independent, spoke to Gavin this morning about Government formation.
The actors and writers behind Father Ted have been paying tribute to the actor Frank Kelly who has died at the age of 77. Despite a career spanning 6 decades in radio, stage and film, he’s probably best known for playing Father Jack in the comedy series, Father Ted. He revealed in November that he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. John Morgan, founder of Father Ted Festival spoke to the show about Frank Kelly. Gavin also spoke to Cheryl McCormack about her memories of the actor. Cheryl lives in the ‘Craggy Island parochial house’ and has all types of visitors and fans of Father Ted. She and her family met cast and crew members over the course of the filming of Father Ted.
Next on the show, Clare FM’s Derrick Lynch and Seamus Hayes from the Clare People, joined Gavin for the weekly Sports Panel.
Joe Griffin, Journalist and Reviewer for RTE, The Irish Times and The Guardian spoke to Morning Focus about the 2016 Oscars. Irish films have taken two awards at the awards ceremony in LA. Brie Larson won best actress for Room, directed by Irishman Lenny Abrahmson and produced by Irish film company, Element Pictures. While the Irish film Stutterer won in the Best Live Action short, category. The Best Actor award went to Leonardo Di Caprio for his role in The Revenant, while Best Picture went to Spotlight. Saoirse Ronan was nominated as best actress for her role in Brooklyn, but missed out to Larson on the gong.
Ennis Mental Health Association is to host a workshop this evening (Mon. February 29th) on the subject of ‘The Healing Heart’. The event will take place at the Ennis Mental Health Resource Centre Chapel Lane Ennis (Community Centre). The cost for Monday evening is 20 euro, to cover expenses for those involved. Speaking on the show this morning was Dayananda Brahmachari, who is a spiritual teacher and mentor with 20 years of experience guiding individuals and groups in their journey of personal transformation and conscious evolution. His unique approach brings together the ancient wisdom of the east, Hebrew mysticism and esoteric energy work to make the transformative power of spiritual wisdom accessible and practical for daily life. Dayanada has been a disciple and Brahmachari (monk) of spiritual master SaiMaa for the last 12 years, and the founder of Shiviti, a centre of Conscious Evolution in Isreal. Gavin also spoke to Clare Sheehan from Ennis Mental Health Association about the workshop.
