Soc Dems rising in the south as Fine Gael fade

Fine Gael has had a bad day in the southwest. It needs snookers to hold a seat in Kerry, with Billy O’Shea 500 votes behind Michael Cahill, the second Fianna Fáil candidate.

The Healy-Rae brothers are safe, with Michael elected on the first count and Danny set to join him soon.

Sinn Féin’s Pa Daly is also elected and Norma Foley is uncatchable for the fourth seat.

It’s a similarly dismal story in Cork south west where Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins, Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns - who gave birth on Friday as her constituents voted for her - and Fianna Fáil’s Christopher O’Sullivan all safely held their seats.

Fine Gael got more votes than any of the elected candidates, but their two-candidate strategy failed, with Tim Leonard - the Seanad agriculture spokesman for the party - losing out alongside running mate Noel O’Donovan.

It was almost no change in Cork north west, as Aindrias Moynihan and Michael Moynihan held their seats for Fianna Fáil, with the Fine Gael seat falling to John Paul O’Shea.

Dynasty

Independent Ireland looks set for a gain in Cork north central, where Ken O’Flynn, from a Fianna Fáil dynasty, is set to be elected.

Thomas Gould has retained his seat for Sinn Féin, while Padraig O’Sullivan and Colm Burke will hold for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael respectively.

The last seat will be a three-way battle between Fianna Fáil’s Tony Fitzgerald, outgoing TD Mick Barry of People Before Profit and Labour’s Eoghan Kenny.

Fianna Fáil dominated in Cork south central, with Micheál Martin getting one in four votes and Seamus McGrath safely elected too.

Sinn Féin’s Donnchadh O’Laoghaire will soon be re-elected, with Fine Gael taking a seat and the Social Democrats' Pádraig Rice set to get a seat too.

Falling short

In Cork east, Deirdre O’Brien - the latest representative of another Fianna Fáil dynasty, that of the O’Keeffes - fell just short.

The seats have been filled by James O’Connor of Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin’s Pat Buckley, Noel McCarthy of Fine Gael and Liam Quaide of the Social Democrats, completing a notable hat-trick by them along the Cork coast.

It’s all over in Waterford too, with Sinn Féin gaining two seats in a remarkable performance, with David Cullinane joined by Conor McGuinness.

Mary Butler retained her seat for Fianna Fáil, while John Cummins regained a seat for Fine Gael.

In contrast, Fine Gael lost a seat in Wexford, where independent Verona Murphy topped the poll, while Fianna Fáil’s James Browne and Sinn Féin’s Johnny Mythen held their seats.

George Lawlor retained the seat Labour have held in Wexford since 1987 through Brendan Howlin.

Fine Gael did top the poll in the new Wexford-Wicklow constituency, where Brian Brennan took a seat alongside Fianna Fáil’s Malcolm Byrne and Fionntán O’ Súilleabháin, a Sinn Féin TD from a farm.

Meanwhile, in Wicklow, Stephen Donnelly, the outgoing Minister for Health, will struggle to hold a seat for Fianna Fáil.

There was a 'Harris hop' here, with the outgoing Taoiseach gaining a huge personal vote and with a prospect of bringing in running mate Edward Timmins.

Donnelly’s former Social Democrats party colleague Jennifer Whitmore will retain her seat, as will John Brady of Sinn Féin.

Fianna Fáil have a real chance of a third seat in Carlow-Kilkenny. After nine counts, John McGuinness, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor and Peter Chap Cleere occupy the top three places.

Fine Gael will take one seat, with Carlow candidate Catherine Connolly ahead of her two Kilkenny running mates.

Sinn Féin will comfortably retain a seat as well, but Malcolm Noonan has been eliminated and, as in so many parts of the country, it’s the Social Democrats who are benefitting from that shift in centre-left loyalties, with Patricia Stephenson still in a fight for the last seat.

Long serving

One of Ireland's longest-serving county councillors was elected to the Dáil on Sunday in Laois.

Dairy farmer Willie Aird has been a public representative for almost 45 years. Now, he takes his place in the Dáil as a new Fine Gael TD, alongside experienced TDs Sean Fleming (Fianna Fáil) and Brian Stanley, formerly of Sinn Féin, now an independent.

Over in Offaly, Pippa Hackett suffered the fate of most Green Party candidates and never featured in the race for a seat. The outgoing minister of state for agriculture was eliminated in the third count, with the seats going to outgoing independent TD Carol Nolan and newcomers Tony Stapleton, succeeding the Cowen dynasty in Offaly for Fianna Fáil, and John Clendennen of Fine Gael.

In Tipperary north, Michael Lowry's remarkable electoral success story continues, as he inevitably topped the poll, despite losing a large chunk of his heartland in the splitting of the county.

Alan Kelly looks like holding his seat for Labour, while Ryan O'Meara holds a narrow lead over Fianna Fáil running mate Michael Smith for the last seat.

In Tipperary south, the big story was the return of veteran independent socialist Séamus Healy, with Mattie McGrath as dominant as Lowry was north of the M8 Motorway.

Michael Murphy took the third seat for Fine Gael, with Independent Ireland and CRAG's Nadaline Webster not featuring.

Limerick county bore little drama, with Patrick O'Donovan of Fine Gael, Niall Collins of Fianna Fáil and Richard O'Donoghue of Independent Ireland all comfortably holding their seats.

Finally, in Clare, Fianna Fáil had a superb performance, with Timmy Dooley and Cathal Crowe both elected after they shared almost 40% of the first preference vote with running mate Rita McInerney.

Donna McGettigan of Sinn Féin and Fine Gael's Joe Cooney took the other seats.