TG4 conducts opinion poll of voters intentions in Galway West Bye-Election
Political anoraks will be glued to TG4 next Thursday when the Conamara-based Irish language TV station releases the results of a much-anticipated opinion poll for the Galway West Bye-Election.
TG4 has commissioned an opinion poll of voter intentions in the constituency, and the results will be revealed on its Nuacht programme at 7pm on Thursday May 7.
This poll – and one due to be released the following week for Dublin Central – was done in conjunction with The Irish Times, which will publish the results simultaneously on its website.
TG4 has also confirmed it will not be hosting a debate in the Irish language with the Galway West candidates. It had been suggested that this was because only a handful of the runners have Gaeilge but TG4 said it doesn’t tend to host debates for bye-elections.
“We will not be hosting debates in either constituency. We don’t normally broadcast same for byelections, regardless of the Irish Language capability of candidates, and won’t be doing so in this case,” a spokesperson said.
Voters go to the polls on Friday, May 22 to contest the seat vacated by Independent Catherine Connolly’s election as President last November.
The following are the names of all 17 candidates, in alphabetical order as they will appear on the ballot paper: Néill Bairéad (Independent), AJ Cahill (The Irish People), Mike Cubbard (Independent), Patrick Feeney (Independent), Sheila Garrity (Independent), Cillian Keane (Fianna Fáil), Seán Kyne (Fine Gael), Mark Lohan (Sinn Féin), Niall Murphy (Green Party), Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich (Social Democrats), Orla Nugent (Aontú), Helen Ogbu (The Labour Party), John O’Leary (Independent), Denman Rooke (People Before Profit - Solidarity), Michael Ryan (Independent ), Noel Thomas (Independent Ireland) and Thomas Welby (Independent).