South Mayo was not a ‘natural fit’ for Galway

The former Mayo TD who was most affected by the boundary change that led to a large section of South Mayo being transferred into Galway West is delighted to see it returned

Many observers felt John O’Mahony, who was a Fine Gael TD between 2007 and 2016, was put at a huge disadvantage when the change occurred in 2013.

The move led to a diversion in party strategy with the former schoolteacher and senator moving constituency to battle for election in the five-seater Galway West area.

However, the twice All Ireland-winning Galway manager and former Mayo boss narrowly lost out when the constituency returned two Fine Gael candidates — Sean Kyne and Hildegarde Naughton. The Ballaghaderreen-based politician performed well in challenging circumstances, and he was just 500 votes short of being elected.

“I’m delighted to see the change, it was a very conglomerated area,” John said. “I know from canvassing South Mayo for the 2016 election that there were a lot of people who did not actually vote because they didn’t feel South Mayo was a natural fit into Galway West.”

Sean Kyne was helped over the line after he received an impressive 2,419 transfers from O’Mahony while Hildegarde Naughton also received 2,105 from him.

Mayo went from a five-seater in 2011 to a four-seater for the general elections in 2016 and 2020.

Mr O’Mahony said the needs of people in Galway City were completely at odds with the requirements in South Mayo and the extra Dáil seat is a huge benefit for Mayo.

“I saw that when I canvassed Galway City, it’s a multicultural city, they hadn’t a clue about where the constituency was or anything else and it didn’t sit well with people and I’d say the overwhelming feeling is that it’s brilliant it’s back in Mayo,” said John. “It’s certainly a more natural constituency than it was before and, in reality, in 2016 it was my votes that elected the two Fine Gael candidates.”