Constituency: Sligo-Leitrim

Molly Candon has been selected by the Party for Animal Welfare to contest the upcoming general election for the first time. Ms Candon, who lives in Ballisodare, Co Sligo, wants to see an end to government grant aid to the greyhound and horse racing industries.

Marie Casserly will once again contest the General Election having last run in a General Election 2016. Based in north Sligo, Casserly has been an elected member of Sligo County Council since 2014. In the 2016 General Election, Casserly polled 2,726 first preference votes (4.4%) before being eliminated with 4,138 votes in total. Casserly is a secondary school teacher in Sligo and a keen supporter of Sligo Rovers, Sligo GAA and her own Naomh Molaise Gaels. Casserly will likely poll well in her home village of Grange and north Sligo.

West Sligo’s Michael Clarke has entered the national political fray once more having last contested a general election in 2011 when the former Fianna Fáil party member ran as an independent. He has been a member of Sligo County Council for the past 15 years and has served a term as Cathaoirleach, In the 2011 general election in the then three seat Sligo/North Leitrim constituency, Clarke polled 2,415 first preference votes (5.4%) before finally being eliminated on 2,607 votes. Clarke will poll well in west Sligo where he is based.

Caroline Corcoran hails from Strokestown, Co. Roscommon, and is described as a homemaker.

Cork native Nessa Cosgrove stormed to a seat the local elections last June and has been solidly building a base for herself having worked for over 20 years as a youth worker within the voluntary and community sector. The mother of three, secured a seat in Sligo/Strandhill at the local elections and will view the general election as an opportunity to grow the party further which has a proud history in Sligo, stretching back decades. Nessa is a Creative Youth Co-ordinator with the MSLETB. She stood for election for the Labour Party in both the 2019 Local and the 2020 General Elections.

Elected for the first time in Sligo/Leitrim in 2020 having been a TD for Roscommon/South Leitrim from 2007 to 2016. While Boyle is no longer in Sligo/Leitrim, Feighan has firmly established himself in Sligo and the former Junior Minister at the Department of Health during the first part of the current government’s term has been to the fore in securing badly needed funding for the constituency through a range of sources and in particular in the areas of sport and community projects. He can also take a large slice of credit for achieving the amalgamation of St Angela’s College with ATU Sligo. Likely to top the poll in the constituency.

The Green Party doesn’t have any elected representatives in Sligo/Leitrim either at a local or national level so it will be a real struggle for Ms Gallagher to make an impact. She contested the 2020 general election where she polled 1,791 first preference votes (3%) before finally going out with 2,575 votes. She is chair of North West Greens and has been on the party’s executive committee for four years. Based in Drumkeeran, the researcher and independent consultant was an unsuccessful candidate at last June’s local elections in the Manorhamilton LEA.

Councillor Des Guckian is running in the general election in Sligo-Leitrim. The Dromod-based Independent member of Leitrim County Council contested two Dáil elections in the past, in 2014 and 2016, but was unsuccessful. Councillor Guckian received 1,060 first preference votes at the election in 2016.

It would be a very brave person indeed to back against Marian Harkin retaining her seat in the general election. An experienced and seasoned politician, Marian was comfortably elected in Sligo/Leitrim in 2020 having previously been a TD from 2002 to 2007. She previously served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2004 to 2019. The former maths teacher at Mercy College, Sligo and originally from Ballintogher, has been courted by the main political parties and various groupings over the years but has remained independent which has left her out in the cold from the major decision making following the formation of the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael and Green Party coalition.

Michael Kelly will be contesting the upcoming General Election for the Irish Freedom Party. A first time candidate, the 33-year-old currently works in a large retail outlet.

Outgoing TD Martin Kenny lives in Aughavas, Co Leitrim, and was first elected to the Dáil in the 2016 election, successfully retaining his seat in 2020. He is currently his party’s spokesperson on Communications and Transport having also been spokesman on Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Justice. With the wind behind the party at the 2020 general election, Deputy Kenny polled remarkably well with 15,035 first preference votes (24.8%) which was more than enough to get elected on the first count. The party ran just the one candidate so it was unable to reap the full benefit of his huge vote. Two have been selected this time with former MEP Chris MacManus now on the ticket but it remains to be seen if the party can gather enough votes to elect two candidates. Kenny remains the firm favourite to retain his seat.

Diarmuid MacConville, from Kilavoggy, Dromahair was an unsuccessful local election candidate in counties Sligo and Leitrim last June.

Former MEP Chris MacManus outvoted councillor Thomas Healy to secure the party’s Sligo nomination at the party’s general election convention to run alongside Deputy Martin Kenny. He last ran in the 2016 General Election where he polled 4,747 first preference votes ((7.6%) which wasn’t enough to ultimately put him into contention. Sligo town-based Chris was co-opted to the European parliament in 2020 but lost his seat at the European Elections in June. Previously, MacManus was a member of Sligo Corporation and later the Borough District of Sligo from 1999 to 2014. In March 2017 he was co-opted to Sligo County Council to succeed his father Sean who retired and Chris retained the seat in 2019.

First time candidate Edel McSharry entered the political fray during the summer when successfully securing a seat on Sligo County Council in Sligo/Drumcliffe. The long time Fianna Fáil activist and niece of former Tánaiste Ray MacSharry is also a cousin of outgoing TD Marc MacSharry. Edel was Marc’s Director of Elections in the last two General Elections and is also a member of the Fianna Fáil National Executive. Ransboro-based Edel is Head of the Department of Nursing Health Sciences and Disability Studies in ATU St Angela’s College. She qualified as a nurse in 1986 and specialised in intensive care working in the UK, the US and Ireland.

Graham Monaghan stood for the party in last summer’s local elections in Sligo/Strandhill where he polled 186 first preference votes. He went to school in Scoil Ursula, St John NS and then Summerhill College. Graham is a professional entertainer/vocalist with more than 30 years in the industry. A keen golfer, he is also a big Sligo Rovers supporter with both his father and grandfather having played for Rovers. Graham has served as a volunteer on the board at the club for a number of years along with helping out as a stadium announcer.

Cllr Gino O’Boyle has been a member of Sligo County Council since 2015 when he was co-opted to succeed his late father, Seamus. Gino successfully held on to the seat in the two local elections since.

Leitrim councillor Paddy O’Rourke was added to the Fianna Fáil ticket as the third candidate in Sligo Leitrim. Cllr O’Rourke has been a consistent poll-topper in the last four local elections, topping the poll in the Ballinamore Municipal District in this year’s local elections. Currently the Cathaoirleach of Leitrim County Council, Mr O’Rourke contests a General Election for the first time since 2016, when he was eliminated on the 12th count. Back then he received 5,447 (8.7%) first preference votes, and was eliminated with 6,083 votes after transfers. He joins sitting councillor Edel McSharry, and former TD Eamon Scanlon on the Fianna Fáil ticket and is likely to poll well in Leitrim.

A strong contender to win a seat for Fianna Fáil though he was selected at convention. Following weeks of speculation, former TD Scanlon was added to the ticket and will pick up a strong vote in south and west Sligo. Ballymote-based Scanlon lost his seat at the 2020 election despite polling 6,246 first preference votes (10.3%) before going out on the final count with 9,316 votes. Scanlon, is a former butcher and current auctioneer and was first being elected to Sligo County Council in 1992 and first elected to Dáil Éireann in 2007 by topping the poll.