#Elections2019: Jackie Healy-Rae elected to Kerry County Council
Jackie Healy-Rae Jnr has been elected to Kerry County Council on the first count for the Castleisland electoral area with a massive 2,621 votes - 784 votes over the 1,837 quota.
The Healy-Rae family has now succeeded in electing its sixth family member to Kerry County Council - a feat unprecedented in Kerry or anywhere else.
There were jubilant scenes at John Mitchels GAA clubhouse in Tralee as the newest edition to the Healy-Rae dynasty was held aloft on the shoulders of supporters along with his TD father, Michael Healy-Rae.
His namesake and grandfather was the first Healy-Rae to serve on Kerry County Council, followed by his father Michael, his uncle Danny and his first cousins, Maura and Johnny.
Jackie Healy Rae tofa in Oileán Ciarraí pic.twitter.com/WwkwBF4P6b
— Tomás O Mainnín (@omainnintomas) May 25, 2019
Castleisland is now certain to return three new councillors, Mr Healy-Rae, Charlie Farrelly (Independent) and Fionnan Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail).
Two incumbents are also certain to lose their seats, Fianna Fail’s Tom McEllistrim and Fine Gael councillor Pat McCarthy.
At this point, it looks like the makeup of the four-seat Castleisland electoral area will include one Fianna Fail, one Fine Gael and two Independents.
Long-serving Fine Gael Councillor, Bobby O’Connell, is set to be re-elected. He polled 1,459 votes in the first count and has been re-elected at every local election since 1991.
It was a disappointing result for former Fianna Fail TD, Tom McEllistrim. Although their service on Kerry County Council is not unbroken, the McEllistrim family have been to the fore in Kerry politics since 1923.
