Outgoing TDs:
Who are the candidates running in the Dún Laoghaire constituency? Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG) Senator Barry Ward (FG), Cllr Martha Fanning (Lab), Shane O’Brien (SF), Mairéad Tóibín (Aon), Hugo Mills (SD), Cathy Lynch (Ind/NA), Deputy Richard Boyd-Barrett (PBP), Cormac Devlin (FF), Ossian Smyth (GP)
Another target for two seats in a Fine Gael heartland. But second candidate Barry Ward has his work cut out to accompany Jennifer Carroll MacNeill back to the Dáil and a careful division of the constituency will be needed if two Fine Gaelers are to come home.
Richard Boyd-Barrett has been a TD since 2011 and has a strong local and national brand that is pretty well dug in at this stage. It’s hard to see him losing out.
Election 2024 live updates: Soc Dems pledge to reintroduce ban on no-fault evictions
Election 2024: Battles heat up in the four bellwether constituencies ahead of voting day
The Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll: the full results in charts
First election poll shows it wouldn’t take much for the race to start looking very tight
There has usually been a Fianna Fáil seat here and Cormac Devlin is careful in tending to his on-the-ground work. If there is to be a change, it could be the Greens’ Ossian Smyth who loses out, though it’s far from clear that the Social Democrats Hugo Mills or Labour’s Martha Fanning have the profile across the constituency to topple him. Labour once had a reliable seat here – Niamh Breathnach had it, and so did Eamon Gilmore – but that’s a long time ago.
Possible outcome: Fine Gael (1), Fianna Fáil (1), People Before Profit - Solidarity (1), Green Party (1)
- Listen to our Inside Politics Podcast for the latest analysis and chat
- Sign up for Politics push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date