After 45 years in politics, dairy farmer Willie Aird (Fine Gael), from Portlaoise, has finally won a seat in the Dáil at the age of 64.
First elected to Portlaoise Town Commission in 1979 aged only 19, he had to wait until 2024 to contest his first general election due to the Flanagan hegemony that dated back to the 1940s.
Aird topped the poll in the three-seater Laois constituency, scooping almost one-quarter of the total vote, with 9,269 first preferences.
A Laois county councillor since 1985, he takes over the Fine Gael seat from former minister for justice Charlie Flanagan, son of the late Oliver J Flanagan TD, who announced his retirement earlier this year.
Aird’s grandfather and namesake William Patrick Aird, an auctioneer and farmer, was elected to the 6th Dáil in 1927 as a Cumann na nGaedheal TD, but died in 1931. Ninety-three years later, his grandson will enter the 34th Dáil.
