Keddy Still Confident

Keddy!

he votes have been counted, and recounted, and the dust has settled on the Wicklow numbers for February’s General Election, but one man reckons it’s only just begun.

A long-time contender who has ran as a candidate in each district in the county, Kilcoole’s Charlie Keddy scored just 447 votes from an electorate of 97,858. On the second count, Keddy scored 476 votes. The voter turn-out for Wicklow was 70.9%.

Nonetheless, Keddy is still confident, and there are unconfirmed reports that the self-employed plumber is demanding a recount. The man to beat is Fine Gael’s Andrew Doyle, who scored 6,227 votes, securing him Wicklow’s fifth and final Dáil seat.

So, Keddy just needs just another 5,781 votes. To add to his already-banked 447 votes.

Having run in the 1980s as a Labour candidate, Keddy has been standing as an independent since turning his back on the main parties.

Against water charges and property tax, Keddy also campaigned on the No side of the recent referendum for marriage equality and to change the age to run for president.

Back in 2013, Creddy received just 1% of the vote in the Meath East by-election, and has yet to win a seat. Anywhere. Ever.

This article first appeared in 2016