By Paddy Walsh
On Saturday as the tally figures projected positive news for Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly, he was absent for a period from the count centre at the Aura Leisure Complex.
Away from the noise and bustle and instead standing in the quiet of Conwal graveyard where his brother, Manus, is laid to rest.
“His memory is always there and I have no doubt he was along with me, looking down and very proud.
“Yesterday when I was tallying well, I stopped at the grave and me and him had a chat,” Donal related as he took time on Sunday to reflect on his poll topping achievement.
“I dreaded this day but I looked forward to it as well. A real mixture of emotions.”
To deflect away from the tension as the tally people kept their eyes and pencils on the figures, Donal and his son, also Donal, were out on the family farm.
“We were dosing the cows and calves, kind of taking our mind off things but then when the boxes were being opened and I heard it was going well, I said to him we better get to the Aura and get these cows out quick and get out of the wellies and into the suit very quick!”
And back to the count centre to learn of his 1,841 first preference votes tally.
“Unbelievable, just unbelievable. I honestly thought I’d be in the fight for the last three seats, that’s what I had in my head, I honestly thought it would be a struggle. I never expected to top the poll.
“I was hoping for a 1,000 or 1,100 first preferences and I thought I’d be in the race and when the tally figures were emerging on Saturday, I was saying, this is going better than I thought.”
Hard graft paying off.
“I have indeed worked hard these last three and a half years. Listen, I grew up on a farm and grew up in a big family and we had to work.
“And I’m not a bit afraid of work, not afraid to get my hands dirty and never was.
“And maybe this evening, I’ll be out of this suit and back into the wellies and back on the farm again.”
The Fianna Fail councillor was quick to laud the efforts of those who canvassed for and with him. ”What a team to have, they got behind me one hundred percent.
“We knocked at every door, we travelled some ground and I want to thank them and all the people who gave me a vote. A big thanks to them all.”
And particularly to his family and his late brother looking down from the ultimate count centre.
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