Bradley Bytes: Kyne’s ‘Focal an Lae’ helped in Bye-Election social media battle in Galway West
The battle on social media was just as important as the ground war in May’s Bye-Election campaign.
It was the third Bye-Election to take place in Galway West, and first of the modern era.
You can’t beat knocking on doors to persuade people to vote for you but in a constituency as vast and diverse as Galway West, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and other online methods of reaching voters were hugely important.
Noel Thomas used a newsletter, emailed regularly, to keep supporters informed during the campaign. Bilingual and innovative, it provided links to his social media accounts. The main downside of it was that you had to sign up to receive it, and so it was more than likely preaching to the converted Independent Ireland supporters rather than attracting new voters.
It felt like Mayor of Galway Mike Cubbard got a drone off Santa Claus last Christmas such was his extensive use of aerial video footage of Galway landmarks throughout his social media clips.
Mayor Mike’s video pieces with his wife Karen, particularly the ‘’Quick Fire Quiz’ were good fun, if a little naff, but you’d have to wonder about the logic of using family in electioneering videos especially a politician who has complained in the past about his family being targeted with “menacing threats”. Overall, Cubbard’s online presence was slick.
Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich, trying to dispel the notion that she would be too young to be a TD, was recorded using knitting needles in an online video designed to emphasise though she is young she is knowledgeable too. The Soc Dem candidate leant heavily on the popularity of party leader, Holly Cairns, too, in online content.
Fianna Fáil’s Cillian Keane and the Green Party Niall Murphy’s videos were noticeable mostly because they were alone in them talking about issues – boring!
Apart from one video featuring his daughter and grandson, Mark Lohan’s online presence was so stale it was like as if Sinn Féin had seconded the social media campaign manager from Fine Gael’s ill-fated presidential election campaign for Heather Humphreys.
Fine Gael, meanwhile, looked like they’d poached Catherine Connolly’s Presidential Election communications team for Seán Kyne’s online campaign.
Kyne was never one to light up a room with charisma but led by Ben Smyth, the FG campaign was remarkable in that it highlighted to voters that their candidate had a personality hitherto unseen or mostly hidden.
This was the case in a Q&A with the candidate outside Galway Cathedral, and the ‘Focal an Lae’ or ‘Irish Word of the Day’ clips, which reinforced with voters that not only had Kyne a personality, he spoke Gaeilge too!
Burkes strike twice
With all the excitement of the Bye-Election, we almost forgot that the Burkes of Mayo accosted Education Minister Hildegarde Naughton twice in one weekend.
On polling day, Martina and Isaac Burke – mother and brother of jailed teacher Enoch Burke – attempted to give the hairdryer treatment to Hildegarde at a school in Donegal.
They repeatedly shouted “shame upon you” and “you are a disgrace” as the Minister was whisked away in a ministerial Merc.
Days later, while Hildegarde was taking a break from the Galway West Bye-Election count centre in Salthill, the Burkes pounced again with another brother confronting her outside O’Connor’s Bar.
On this occasion, Gavin McSpadden, Hildegarde’s political right-hand man, intervened and allowed the Minister to escape from the performative tongue-lashing that the Burkes have made a name for themselves.
Both interactions were recorded and published on Enoch’s X/Twitter account. Their interaction with the Minister generated more sympathy for a woman doing her job than it did for their cause.
There’s a nastiness to the way the Burkes do their business. Roaring and shouting at people – ministers and judges – they continue to make a holy show of themselves.
Is there no end to their pathetic carry on?
No expenses
Most of the 17 candidates in the Galway West Bye-Election failed to get their expenses reimbursed.
The State can return some election expenses to the elected candidate and candidates who are not elected but have exceeded one quarter of the quota at any stage of the voting.
Newly elected TD Seán Kyne (FG) got expenses back; as did Noel Thomas (Ind), Helen Ogbu (Lab) and Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich (Soc Dem) as they were not elected but their votes exceeded a quarter of the 23,947 quota.
All other candidates who did not get 5,986 votes did not get their expenses returned, which is worth up to €11,200.
One in, one out!
Peter Feeney the friendly farmer and Galway County Councillor, was one of the few Fine Gaelers who lost out in the Bye-Election.
For as soon as Seán Kyne was elected a TD following his victory in the Bye-Election, he gave up his role as Leader of Seanad Éireann. In that role he was entitled to a driver, which was Feeney. But humble TDs don’t have drivers and so Feeney lost his job as soon as Kyne won his new one!