Entrepreneur and charity founder Aubrey McCarthy has been elected to the final seat in the Dublin University (TCD) Seanad constituency after a “simple recount”.
Thirty one votes had separated Mr McCarthy and Green Party Cllr Hazel Chu on the 15th and final count.
Following her request for a recount, the revised result increased Mr McCarthy’s vote by 29 to 3,770 from his 3,741 original tally. Ms Chu’s vote dropped by four from 3,710 to 3,706.
But the Green Party secured a Seanad victory when former minister of State Malcolm Noonan topped the poll on the vocational agricultural panel and was elected.
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Mr Noonan exceeded the 95 vote quota to reach 107 first preferences. Newcomer Sinn Féin’s Joanne Collins was also elected on the first count with 106 votes, as was sitting Independent Senator Victor Boyhan on 105 votes.
Mr McCarthy’s election completes the line-up for the two university constituencies. He joins re-elected Senators Lynn Ruane and Tom Clonan for TCD.
In the National University of Ireland (NUI) constituency poll topping Senator Michael McDowell was re-elected as were Senators Rónán Mullen and Alice Mary Higgins.
Mr McCarthy, founder of the charity Tiglin which provides housing and supports for people affected by homelessness and addiction, said his Seanad seat would give him a platform to show how a model of housing and services could be replicated to “provide a continuum of care”.
Ms Chu said she was “pegged as a non-Trinity candidate who wouldn’t have a hope, but I managed to come within 60 votes of winning the seat. I am very surprised and honoured.”
TCD Provost Dr Linda Doyle said “Trinity has a long history of electing senators who have gone on to play pivotal roles in Irish politics and public life and I hope that Aubrey McCarthy, Lynn Ruane and Tom Clonan will continue that tradition.”
She said it was a “historic moment” as it was the college’s last involvement in the Seanad count. From the next election the university franchise will be expanded to include 15 colleges and the NUI will be the central registration authority for the six-seat single constituency.
In the vocational election, outgoing Cork South-West Fine Gael senator Tom Lombard was expected to lose his seat on the agricultural panel as was former Roscommon Fianna Fáil turned Independent senator Eugene Murphy.
Outgoing Fianna Fáil senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee has not yet ruled out the possibility of court action following the loss or her seat on the cultural and educational panel.
The North County Dublin-based politician, who came in a fraction of a vote behind Independent Co Waterford Cllr Joe Conway in the complicated counting system, requested a recount of the 18th count on which she was excluded.
The recount however did not change the result. Preliminary paperwork has been submitted to leave open the possibility of legal action. Ms Clifford-Lee has been contacted for comment.
Party colleague Cllr Shane Curley from Loughrea, Co Galway secured the sole Fianna Fáil seat but former Longford-Westmeath TD Joe Flaherty also failed in his bid to win a Seanad seat.
Counting moved to the agricultural panel where there are 28 candidates for 11 seats after the completion of the cultural and educational panel.
The five elected Senators are poll topper former Cavan-Monaghan TD Pauline Tully (SF); Cllr Cathal Byrne (FG); Cllr Shane Curley (FF); sitting Senator Seán Kyne (FG); and Cllr Joe Conway Ind).
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