A new political landscape awaits parties and voters in the local elections next year. There’ll be seven extra seats to be won on the county council as it increases from its present 48 to 55 members, due to the abolition of the county’s 12 town councils. With the town councils gone, at least some of those town councillors will vie for a place on the county council.

A radical overhaul of boundaries means there’ll be eight electoral areas formed instead of the present 10. North Cork voters will elect members for two new six-member electoral area, these being the Fermoy area and the Kanturk-Mallow area. Previously the area committee of the county council had four members in the Fermoy electoral area.

Fianna Fail were first off the starting blocks with their recent convention to select candidates for the new Fermoy electoral area and have put three on the ticket, sitting councillors Kevin O’Keeffe and Frank O’Flynn and Charleville man Ian Doyle. The Fermoy electoral area gained Charleville, Castletownroche and a number of other townlands from the Mallow and Kanturk areas as part of the boundary changes.

Other parties are now also turning their attention to prospective candidates and strategies. The Avondhu takes a look at what plans are being made to win seats in what promises to be very interesting local elections. We begin this week with a look at Sinn Fein’s plans.

The 2009 local elections were supposed to be Sinn Fein’s. With Fianna Fail in freefall, the party expected to pick up enough votes from a disaffected electorate to see them make significant gains on town and county councils. It didn’t happen.

The party managed to get just onle member elected to Cork County Council. It has five city councilors and 11 town councillors. One of the town councillors is Seamus Coleman. The Fermoy Town Council member is not seeking re-election though. Instead he has been appointed county organiser for the elections and intends putting all his energy into that.

“We were disappointed with the results in ’09. But we’ve evolved since. The electorate is no longer going to give you a vote because of a face on a poster. You have to be seen to be working. Sinn Fein has been one of the most, if not the most, active parties on the subject of austerity. We’ve been highlighting it, putting it up to the Government parties. We have tried bringing national issues affecting voters locally into council chambers,” Seamus says.

The party intends running one or more candidates in every electoral area. “We want to get five to six seats and, on a good day we could get eight, one in every ward,” Seamus said. He explained that the make up of the new Mallow and Fermoy electoral areas threw them a bit and they are still considering candidates and strategies for those areas. “We hope to hold our convention within the next two to three months,” he disclosed.

In common with its national policy, Sinn Fein intends putting forward bright, young, well educated new candidates in Cork and also plans to achieve its national gender quota target of 30% female candidates.

“There’s no ifs ands or buts about it. We will be actively looking for female candidates,” the area organiser said. He’s confident they will have such candidates to put forward. Longer serving councillors are being asked to step aside to allow new candidates contest the elections. Established members have made a very worthwhle contribution, Seamus says. While that is valued, he stresses that the party has no compunction in asking them to make way for new, younger candidates to emerge.

“The party is running at 15-20% in the polls. I think the new boundary changes will suit us. I think our breakthrough is coming this time around. I’m hopeful and confident,” he concluded.