FF almost wiped out in Dublin

Fianna Fáil’s electoral meltdown was most keenly felt in Dublin, where the party’s vote has imploded.

Fianna Fáil’s electoral meltdown was most keenly felt in Dublin, where the party’s vote has imploded.

With all 47 seats in Dublin filled, the Labour Party has 18, Fine Gael has 17 and Sinn Féin has four. There are three Independents and four members of the ULA.

Former minister for finance Brian Lenihan will be the sole Dublin Fianna Fáil TD in the 31st Dáil. He is the only one of the party's 13 TDs in the capital who retained their seat.

“The Government has taken a hammering at the polls,” Mr Lenihan admitted yesterday. “I will do everything I can to rebuild the party and to be a responsible opposition in the Dáil.”

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In the four-seater Dublin Central, Fine Gael's Paschal Donohue was elected on the second count. He topped the poll, followed by Labour's Joe Costello, Independent Maureen O'Sullivan and Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald.

In Dublin West, Labour's Joan Burton was elected on the first count. She was followed by Fine Gael's Leo Varadkar, who was elected on the second count and the Socialist Party's Joe Higgins, running under the United Left Alliance banner, who made it on the fourth count.  Brian Lenihan squeezed through on the fifth count.

In Dublin South West, Labour's Pat Rabbitte also stormed to victory, being elected on the first count. Fine Gael's Brian Hayes took the second seat and will joined in the Dáil by Seán Crowe of Sinn Féin, who was elected on the sixth count. Labour's Eamonn Maloney took the fourth seat. Fianna Fáil's two outgoing TDs – Conor Lenihan and Charlie O'Connor – were knocked out. Mr Lenihan, a former Fianna Fáil junior minister, accepted yesterday the party had taken a pasting. "It's not entirely a dishonourable place to be. Clearly the tide is out for Fianna Fáil in Dublin," he said.

In Dublin Mid West, Labour Party's Joanna Tuffy topped the poll, ahead of Fine Gael's Frances Fitzgerald. The third and fourth seats were won by Labour's Robert Dowds and Derek Keating of Fine Gael. Two outgoing TDs - Fianna Fáil's John Curran, the former Government chief whip, and the Green Party's Paul Gogarty - were unseated.

Labour took two seats in Dublin North West, with Roisín Shortall being elected and her running mate John Lyons polling third behind Sinn Féin's Dessie Ellis. Former Fianna Fáil minister Pat Carey was eliminated on the sixth count.

Independent Senator Shane Ross topped the poll in the five-seater Dublin South. He was elected on the first count, having exceeded the 12,108 quota by almost 5,000 votes. He was followed over the line by Labour's Senator Alex White, with Fine Gael's Olivia Mitchell, Alan Shatter and Peter Matthews taking the final three seats. Fianna Fáil's Senator Maria Corrigan failed to take a seat and former Green Party minister Eamon Ryan lost his.

In Dublin South East, Green Party leader and former minister for the environment John Gormley lost his seat. Outgoing Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton was elected on the sixth count, while former Labour finance minister Ruairí Quinn, Fine Gael's Eoghan Murphy and Labour's Kevin Humphries took the other three. Fianna Fáil's Chris Andrews lost his seat.

In Dublin North, Fine Gael took two seats. Dr James Reilly was elected first, with his running mate Alan Farrell making it on the seventh count. The other two seats were filled by the Socialist Party's Clare Daly - running under the United Left Alliance umbrella - and Labour's Brendan Ryan. Former Green Party leader Trevor Sargent and Fianna Fáil's two sitting TDs, Michael Kennedy and Darragh O'Brien, lost their seats.

In Dublin North Central, Fianna Fáil's Sean Haughey lost his seat. The three winners were Fine Gael's Richard Bruton, who topped the poll, Labour's Aodhan O'Riordan and Independent Finian McGrath.

Labour took two seats in the three-seat Dublin North East constituency, where Fine Gael's Terrence Flanagan was elected on the first count. Labour's Tommy Broughan took the second seat, with Labour's Sean Kenny seeing off Sinn Féin's Larry O'Toole and Fianna Fáil's Averil Power to take the third.

In Dublin South Central, Labour's Eric Byrne, Sinn Féin's Aengus Ó Snodaigh and People Before Profit/United Left Alliance candidate Joan Collins were elected. Incumbent Fine Gael TD Catherine Byrne retained her seat, but Fianna Fáil's Michael Mulcahy lost his to Labour's Michael Conaghan.

In the four seat Dún Laoghaire constituency, People Before Profit's Richard Boyd-Barrett, running under the United Left Alliance ticket, took the fourth and final seat, pipping Fianna Fáil deputy leader Mary Hanafin at the death. Labour leader Eamon Gilmore and Fine Gael's Sean Barrett elected last night, while Fine Gael's Mary Mitchell O'Connor took the third seat today after Labour's Ivan Bacik was eliminated. Former Fianna Fáil junior minister Barry Andrews and outgoing Green Party TD Ciarán Cuffe were eliminated yesterday.

Kilian Doyle

Kilian Doyle

Kilian Doyle is an Assistant News Editor at The Irish Times