Boxer's back, and four other take-aways from GE 24 in Longford Westmeath
Fine Gael on the up (in Longford Westmeath)
It was a much better election for Fine Gael in Longford Westmeath than in most of the country. The party won the popular vote with 29.8% of voters giving the party their first preference. Minister Peter Burke topped the poll on 10,864 first preference votes and was elected on the first count with a surplus of 549, while Senator Micheál Carrigy, who got 7,090 votes, won the ‘Longford seat’ at the expense of FF’s Joe Flaherty. The FG share of the popular vote in the constituency is up by 15.5% on 2020. Minister Burke is also the first Fine Gael candidate to top the poll here since Paddy Cooney in 1973.
Mixed performance by FF
While FG will be delighted with their performance here, on the whole FF will disappointed. In Westmeath Robert Troy was re-elected, albeit with a smaller first preference vote, but Longford’s Joe Flaherty failed to retain his seat. In addition to losing a seat, the party’s overall share of the popular vote dropped from 30.14% in 2020 to 22.4% .
Bookies rarely get it wrong
In the days leading up to the election, the bookies had Minister Peter Burke as favourite to top the poll. Paddy Power and Boyle Sports also predicted that sitting TDs Robert Troy (FF) and Sorca Clarke (SF) would retain their seats, while Joe Flaherty (FF) would lose out to Micheál Carrigy (FG). They seldom get it wrong.
Boxer’s back and so is Athlone
Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran is back in Leinster House and Athlone has a TD again. A few months after he recorded the biggest share of the vote in the country at the local elections, the Athlone native regained the seat he lost in 2020. At that time, an emotional Boxer said he felt ‘let down’ by the people of Athlone. Four years on, the former junior minister got a resounding thumbs up from his community receiving a first preference vote of 8,056, putting him in third place behind Burke and Troy.
Sinn Féin vote management impresses
It was not a huge surprise that SF’s first preference vote was down from their poll topping performance of 2020, but Sorca Clarke was the second candidate to be elected. She exceeded the quota on the 13th count when she gained 70% of her party colleague Barry Campion’s 2,987 votes following his elimination. In an election where many voters appeared to put county allegiance ahead of party, it was an impressive outcome.