The Billy Hillis Legacy

There was much sympathy expressed for Billy Hillis losing his seat last evening, after a long period of service as a Fine Gael councillor.

He has also, in that capacity, served Kilcullen well and he will be remembered for his work for the community on a number of fronts, including the playground project most recently.

At a Council level he has been Mayor of Kildare, and was a member of many key committees. He was recently commended by former Fine Gael Leader Alan Dukes for his 'business and efficiency mentality' and his 'ability to get results'.

The splitting of his key base points in the constituency reshuffle made it perhaps inevitable that he would not succeed this time out. But he has left a very positive legacy to his party as he goes.

Last night, the almost perfect transfer of his votes kicked his FG running mate from Athy, Richard Daly, into the last seat ahead of FF's Mark Dalton.

And his initiative in asking Anthony Lawlor to run for the party in the Naas area already looks like having paid off in spades, with the popular former councillor leading the tallies prior to the actual count.

If you have to lose, this is the best possible way to do it.