'I know he'd be happy for me to put my name on the ballot': Trish Murphy to contest elections

THE daughter of the late Gerard Murphy is to contest the seat left vacant by the death of the veteran Fine Gael councillor and former TD in the forthcoming local elections.

Trish Murphy, a special needs assistant based in Newmarket, has been nominated to run on the Fine Gael ticket in the Kanturk Local Electoral Area (LEA) for the June 7 poll.

In a statement issued this week, Ms Murphy, whose father died last month while a sitting councillor, said the possibility that she might run for election had often been talked about while her father was alive.

“My father passed away quite suddenly last month, and his death came as a shock to us all,” said Ms Muphy. “He and I had often talked about the possibility of me running for election, so the idea is not new to me. But I always expected that he would be there to guide me when the day came.

“That’s not the way it’s working out, but I know he’d be happy for me to put my name on the ballot paper and carry on the tradition of representing the people of our local area,” said Ms Murphy.

“I don’t pretend to be an expert on the workings of local government, but I am very familiar with the issues facing people in rural North Cork.

“There is only one thing I will be promising people when I meet them on the doorsteps and that is that if they trust me with their votes, I will work hard at being a strong voice for this area on Cork County Council.”

The Fine Gael organisation in the Kanturk electoral area had been saddened by the death of the late councillor, who had represented the party in the council since 1992, apart from a five year stint between 2002 and 2007, when he served Cork North West as a TD.

John Paul O’Shea, the Fine Gael leader in Cork County Council and the running mate for the late Mr Murphy, said he was delighted that his late colleague’s daughter would be replacing her father on the Fine Gael ticket in the area.

“Fine Gael has a strong tradition of holding two seats in this area and I have no doubt Trish will, like her dad, be very popular in the Kanturk Local Electoral Area,” he said.

“I am delighted to see Trish has put herself forward to replace her late dad, Gerard Murphy RIP,” he wrote in a text.