The former chair of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Sheep Committee Kevin Comiskey has been unsuccessful in his local election bid.
The Co. Leitrim man stood as a Fine Gael candidate in the Manorhamilton Local Electoral Area (LEA) of Leitrim County Council.
Comiskey finished up on 631 votes, some 276 short of the quota of 907 votes.
In the end, the six seats in the Manorhamilton LEA were claimed by independents (3), Fianna Fáil (2) and Sinn Féin (1).
Last November, Comiskey announced he was stepping down as IFA Sheep chair to run in the local elections. He was succeeded by Adrian Gallagher from Co. Donegal.
Leitrim
Speaking to Agriland following the election results, Kevin Comiskey said he was disappointed with the outcome, but paid tribute to his campaign team, in particular his daughter Sarah who ran his social media accounts.
“We fought a great campaign. I had a huge team on the ground. We certainly give it our all,” he said.
Comiskey said that a swing to independent candidates in the LEA came at the expense of his party.
“I know nationally, it seems to been a good day generally for Fine Gael, but in this area we lost two seats here.
“It was two outgoing [Fine Gael] councillors, two excellent councillors, that stepped down and I did think maybe at the time that if one had stepped down at different times, it might have been a little bit easier,” he said.
Comiskey also said there may have been a perception among the electorate that he could have been “safe” as Fine Gael would have been expected to hold at least one seat.
The sheep and suckler farmer said that housing, healthcare and immigration were the main issues being raised with him at the door steps during canvassing.
He said that farming issues were also raised with him on the campaign trail.
IFA
The immediate priority for Comiskey will be to ensure that all of his election posters are properly removed and stored.
Looking to the future, he is planning to continue playing an active role in farm politics and in his local community.
Along with his involvement in IFA at both local and national level, Comiskey is a director on the board of Leitrim Development Company and is chair of O’Rourke’s Table development company, a recently reopened local amenity in Newtownmanor.
“I have IFA at heart, for a long time I always fought for the farmers. I’ll still add whatever voice I can or at any level, I’ll still do my bit for the farmers.
“I’m a farmer myself and I won’t let them down. We’ll see where it goes from there. You never say never to anything,” he said.
The rules of the IFA mean that candidates for committees need to be apolitical for several years, ruling Comiskey out of such a position in the near future.
“I’m still a member and I’ll still work [with IFA] and indeed with all organisations, anything that helps the farming community that I can do, I’ll still help them,” he said.
“Just because you didn’t get elected you don’t give up on the community totally because there is a lot of work to be done there too,” Comiskey added.