New TDs:All politics is local and, as a Mallow man, newly elected Labour TD Seán Sherlock described how he felt a surge of pride when he went into the Dáil chamber and saw a bust of 19th-century patriot Thomas Davis who hailed from the same town.
The Cork East TD exuded a sense of wonder at his first day in the Dáil, where he has won the seat formerly held by his father, Joe. He also felt a sense of privilege.
"Notwithstanding one's politics, one has to revere the institution that is Dáil Éireann and its rules and the pageantry that took place today. I think it was a wonderful thing for me personally to be a part of that and I feel privileged."
Likewise with new Fine Gael TD for Mayo, John O'Mahony: "When you come through the gates the first time, it's a great feeling. It's one of privilege and one of responsibility."
O'Mahony has won all-Ireland football medals at different levels as manager and player. "Someone said to me: 'how does it compare with winning an all-Ireland?' Well, I was declared elected at 3.40am on a Saturday; I never won an all-Ireland at that time of the morning."
One of the in-jokes at Leinster House is that "there are more Kitts than PDs in the Dáil", now that Áine Brady has joined her brothers Michael and Tom as a TD. She ran unsuccessfully two years ago in the byelection in Kildare North, so was she pinching herself to make sure it was real this time? "To a certain extent I am, yes, because you never saw this outcome while we were campaigning."
Deputy leader of the Green Party Mary White was savouring her first day in the 30th Dáil to the full. "It feels absolutely fantastic. This was the third general election I contested. It's been a long, hard road."
It was also a breakthrough for women, she said. "We have never had a woman TD in Carlow-Kilkenny from any party so it's a historic day and I'm really grateful to the voters who put their trust in me. I will carry out that mandate with vigour and integrity."
She is also the first woman TD for the Greens and their first from a rural constituency. "We're smashing barriers right, left and centre."
The Greens were of course going into government for the first time in Ireland. "It really is an amazing day and I can hardly take it all in, but this little green heart of mine is beating strongly and it will beat strongly, hopefully, over the next five years," Ms White added.
