Incumbent Martin Kenny was one of the bookie's favourites in the lead-up to the election and he proved them right.
First elected in the 2016 election, having run unsuccessfully three times before, Kenny became a popular representative over the course of the 32nd Dáil.
He was first elected to Leitrim County Council in 2003 and was re-elected in each successive election until he entered the Dáil. Kenny is also on Sinn Féin’s ard comhairle.
He was a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine until July 2019 and served on the committee for rural and community development until the dissolution of the Dáil.
In October 2019, Kenny said he had received death threats after he spoke out in the Dáil against far-right attitudes in Irish society. He criticised the increasing anti-immigrant rhetoric and protests against the construction of direct provision centres by local residents.
On October 28th, his car was set ablaze outside his family home.
