Taoiseach Bertie Ahern secured almost two quotas and achieved his target of a second Fianna Fáil seat despite poor first-preference returns for his two running mates.
Cllr Mary Fitzpatrick, daughter of outgoing TD Dermot Fitzpatrick, received just 1,725 first preferences, while Senator Cyprian Brady fared even worse with 939 votes after the first count. But it was Brady who took the second Fianna Fáil seat, possibly due to Ahern making it clear he wanted his transfers to go to his long-time friend.
Ahern's stance was made explicit when last-minute leaflets were sent to all constituents calling on voters to give Brady their second preference and Fitzpatrick their third. Brady got a vital boost when Fitzpatrick was eliminated on the fifth count, but had to wait until the eighth count to be elected, and even then it was without reaching the quota.
The Dáil's longest-serving Independent TD, Tony Gregory, who has represented the constituency for more than 25 years, got the second-highest number of first preferences with 4,649 votes, but had to wait until after midnight and the sixth count before reaching the quota.
A big surprise was the poor performance of Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald, who was eliminated on the seventh count. It was her transfers that took Brady and outgoing Labour TD Joe Costello over the line.
Fine Gael's Paschal Donohoe hung in until the eighth count, while the Green Party's Patricia McKenna will have been very disappointed with her first-count return of just under 2,000 votes.
Overall change: no change
Outgoing TDs
Bertie Ahern FF
Dermot Fitzpatrick FF
Joe Costello Lab
Tony Gregory Ind
