Independent councillor and manager of Kenmare Mart, Dan McCarthy livened up the count centre in Co. Kerry last night (Monday, June 10) as he celebrated his re-election to Kerry County Council with a line dance.
McCarthy, who was first elected to the local authority in 2014, took the final seat in the Kenmare Local Electoral Area (LEA) with 1,832 votes.
Following the official announcement from the returning officer, the newly re-elected councillor joined a group of his supporters on the floor of the Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre for a dance.
Speaking to Agriland, Dan McCarthy said that the celebrations took him by surprise.
“We were always a family that was interested in music and dancing. Dancing is part of our life,” he said.
“I knew nothing about it last night but my supporters and family, they have been dancing. They even danced in the [Kenmare Mart] ring here during the campaign,” McCarthy added.
The music for the so-called ‘Dan dance’ was specially written for the mart manager’s local election campaign by Neily O’Connor in Killarney.
“Once the election was done and the count was over, the whole lot of them jumped out on the floor, they put on the music and they danced. That’s what life is all about, having a bit of craic and enjoying it.
“Some people think that politics is serious, but if you take everything in life serious you’ll never get anywhere,” McCarthy said.
Council
McCarthy said that it had been an extremely difficult election campaign due to ill-health.
“I got laid up in February; I got cellulitis in both legs and I wasn’t able to go out canvassing. I was in hospital for a couple of weeks, looking up at the ceiling and I couldn’t do nothing.
“The constituency we are in is a big rural area, sprawling from Kilgarvan to Caherciveen to Killorglin. Trying to get to every door was an impossibility for me.
“But I have a great campaign team and a great family and we got at it and canvassed as much as we could,” he said.
McCarthy said it is a “great honour” to be selected to represent the Kenmare LEA on Kerry County Council for a further five years.
The councillor had high praise for Ireland’s proportional representation voting system when the count “went down to the wire”.
He cited how a number seven preference on one ballot paper helped him to re-election last night.
“It just worked for me, I kept climbing and climbing and eventually I got there,” he added.