Oireachtas

Seanad election: Second Fine Gael Senator loses seat as count continues over weekend

Dairy farmer Tim Lombard was eliminated on 17th count in Agricultural panel

Seanad elections: Counting continues at Leinster House over the weekend. Photograph: Grainne Ni Aodha/PA Wire
Seanad elections: Counting continues at Leinster House over the weekend. Photograph: Grainne Ni Aodha/PA Wire
Marie O'Halloran
Sat Feb 01 2025 - 13:00

A second Fine Gael Senator has lost his seat in the Seanad general election count, which enters its third day and continues over the bank holiday weekend.

Cork South-West outgoing Senator Tim Lombard has been eliminated on the 17th count for the Agricultural panel. Mr Lombard, a dairy farmer who served two terms in the Seanad, had unsuccessfully contested both the 2020 and 2024 Dáil general elections.

Cork South-West is a constituency the party has no seat in since 2020 and where it has been pushing to regain a foothold.

Outgoing Senator Aisling Dolan had lost her seat in an earlier count. Ms Dolan, from Ballinasloe and a project manager, had contested the general elections in 2020 and 2024 in the Roscommon-Galway constituency.

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Fine Gael, which had three seats on the panel in the last Seanad, is, however, expected to return at least the same number on the 11-seat panel.

Late last night Fianna Fáil notched up their first success on this panel with the return of outgoing Westmeath Senator Paul Daly. Mr Daly, a farmer and former secondary schoolteacher, has been a Senator since 2016. He was elected on the 14th count.

The Green Party had a poll-topping success for former Minister of State Malcolm Noonan who was elected on the first count with 107,000 first preferences, exceeding the 95,667 quota. The former Carlow-Kilkenny TD was the party’s sole candidate for the vocational panels that elect 43 of the Seanad’s 60 Senators.

Votes in the Seanad are multiplied by 1,000 to avoid fractions in the counting system because of the small electorate of just under 1,200 including 949 councillors, outgoing Senators and incoming TDs.

Newcomer Joanne Collins from Limerick of Sinn Féin was also elected on the first count with 106,000 votes. Ms Collins, a qualified special needs assistant who narrowly lost out in the Dáil general election in Limerick County, said following her victory that she would relish working on behalf of rural Ireland “and in particular having the backs of section 39 workers in our community and voluntary workers”.

Sitting Independent Dún Laoghaire Senator Victor Boyhan starts his third term as a Senator following his election, also on the first count with 105,000 votes.

Former Co Roscommon Fianna Fáil senator Eugene Murphy, who became an Independent in a row over candidate selection for the Dáil general election, also lost his seat on the Agricultural panel.

Counting in the university constituencies, which have six seats, finished yesterday following a revised final count when just 31 votes separated businessman Aubrey McCarthy and Green Party Cllr Hazel Chu. Mr McCarthy was deemed elected with a slight increase in his vote.

Lynn Ruane and Tom Clonan had been re-elected in earlier counts.

In the National University of Ireland (NUI) all three outgoing Senators were returned. Michael McDowell topped the poll and was elected on the first count, followed by Rónán Mullen and Alice Mary Higgins on the ninth and final count.

A total of 15 Senators have so far been elected among the 49 Seanad members who are elected. The Taoiseach nominates 11 others to make up the full 60 complement in the Upper House.

The Cultural and Educational Panel was the first vocational panel completed with the election of five Senators:

  • Pauline Tully (Sinn Féin)
  • Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)
  • Shane Curley (Fianna Fáil)
  • Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
  • Joe Conway (Independent)

Agricultural Panel (11 Senators, four elected, count ongoing):

  • Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)
  • Joanna Collins (Sinn Féin)
  • Victor Boyhan (Independent)
  • Paul Daly (Fianna Fáil)

National University of Ireland

  • Michael McDowell
  • Rónan Mullen
  • Alice-Mary Higgins

University of Dublin (TCD)

  • Lynn Ruane
  • Tom Clonan
  • Aubrey McCarthy
Marie O'Halloran

Marie O'Halloran

Marie O'Halloran is Parliamentary Correspondent of The Irish Times