Banner County appears to be a hotly contested district this year. electionbecause already a record number of candidates have thrown their hat into the ring.

So far, 19 candidates have been confirmed to run for the 2024 general electionsthe largest number of candidates since the 16 presented in 2016.

This number could be even higher, since candidates have up to Saturday, November 16 at 12 p.m. register your intention to present yourself.

Nine of the 19 confirmed candidates are women, another record increase from the last election, in which only five candidates ran.

Crucially, two of the four seats in Clare are vacant as we head to the polls, where the dominant issues are likely to be affordable housing, healthcare – particularly the reopening of an emergency department at the hospital ‘Ennis – immigration and agriculture.

Independent Michael McNamara gave up his seat after being elected Europe as MEP for Southern Irelandwhile that of Fine Gael Joe Carey retired from politics in August due to health problems.

Fianna Fail’s Cathal Crowe and Independent are up for re-election Violet-Anne Wynne, last elected for Sinn Fein, but has since resigned from the party.

MP Wynne actually topped the polls last time with the highest number of first preferences and was the first to reach the quota in the seventh count, but she left Sinn Fein in February 2022 citing a “war psychological” while she was on maternity leave.

His former party is running Shannon councilor Donna McGettigan, who performed well in this summer’s local elections, but she was only one of two Sinn Fein candidates elected to the council out of six fielded across the county .

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Cathal Crowe, seeking a second term, is joined on the Fianna Fail ticket by West Clare councilor Rita McInerney, who ran unsuccessfully in 2020, and Senator Timmy Dooley.

Senator Dooley will seek to regain his Dáil seat, lost during Sinn Fein’s surge in popularity in 2020, which he held for three terms previously.

With the loss of Joe Carey for Fine Gael, his sister Leonora was initially named as the sole candidate at the party’s convention earlier this year.

They have since added West Clare GP Dr Tom Nolan, a long-time health campaigner, and former Mayor of Clare Joe Cooneywho has been a Killaloe councilor for over ten years, former President of Clare GAA (perhaps riding that wave of Liam McCarthy’s return?), and was re-elected on the first count in the East Clare region.

Green Party senator Roisín Garvey will surely look to capitalize on her recent promotion to deputy party leader to help him in the fight for that fourth seat in Clare, although their only Green councilor, Liam Grant, lost his west Clare seat to Fianna Fail’s Joe Killeen.

Independent Ireland candidate Eddie Punch, who stood in the European elections, will target the farmers’ vote that helped propel Michael McNamara to the Dáil last time.

Also campaigning as independents are Matthew Moroney, unsuccessful candidate in east Clare in the local elections, Patrick Murphy, Amanda Major and Kevin Hassett.

The Social Democrats’ candidate is Hilary Tonge, co-founder of the Mid-West Hospital Campaign.

West Clare-based June Dillon is the candidate for Aontú, while Michael Loughrey of the Irish People, Michael Leahy of the Irish Freedom Party and Caitríona Ní Chatháin of the Socialist Party, who stood unsuccessfully in the municipal elections in Limerick, complete the list of candidates.