Final vote didn't tally with 'warmth on the doors' - Hogan

As early as Saturday afternoon, general election veteran Paul Hogan knew that, yet again, it wasn't going to be his day.

As early as Saturday afternoon, general election veteran Paul Hogan knew that, yet again, it wasn't going to be his day.

General election 2024 wasn't Hogan's first rodeo, but it may well be his last. Heartbreak was the order of the day in 2016, when he went agonisingly close to a Dáil seat under the Sinn Féin banner, pipped at the post by Labour's Willie Penrose.

This time, it was more a sense of confusion than heartbreak for the Castletown Geoghegan-based county councillor, now flying the flag for Independent Ireland in Westmeath. In Friday's poll, he received a total of 2,956 first preference votes.

"We knew from yesterday that it wasn't going to be my day. The vote was well below what we were reading on the doors, in terms of the warmth my team and I were getting on the doors," said the Athlone native.

"The very good reception we got just didn't translate into votes. And look, there might be myriad reasons for it. Certainly, in Athlone, there was a desire for a TD. In hindsight, looking at the numbers, it may have been possible to have two TDs in south Westmeath.

"Obviously though, I'm delighted with the number of people who voted for me. Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough."

The cost of living - particularly in rural areas - the plight of agriculture, and what he termed "the Green influence" were the major issues he encountered on the campaign trail.

"What I suppose would be the 'Green' influence, and what rural areas would see as detrimental to their lifestyle - those issues like green taxes, carbon tax, the impact on turf-cutting and agriculture - all came up," Hogan said.

"People certainly wanted a change from that. Housing was an issue that came up a lot in Mullingar, and the cost of living came up everywhere."

The issue of assessments for children on the autism spectrum, or children with disabilities, is a hugely important one that deserved more coverage than it got, Hogan maintains.

With Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael hoovering up seats around the country, the securing of support from independents may be the order of the day for the ruling coalition after the collapse of the Green Party's vote.

"I know that Michael Fitzmaurice put out a statement last night to say the door is open," Hogan said, when asked if Independent Ireland would make itself available as a potential Government partner. "I'm long enough in politics to know that you always keep all of your doors open."