Social Democrats' Daniel Ennis elected in Dublin Central byelection
By Cillian Sherlock, Press Association
Daniel Ennis has been deemed elected in the Dublin Central byelection, with the race in Galway West more closely contested.
Ennis, the Social Democrats candidate, said he was “just delighted” after he topped the poll in what party leader Holly Cairns hailed as an “emotional” and “great day for the party.
The poll topper in Galway West was Independent Ireland councillor Noel Thomas, closely followed by Fine Gael senator Seán Kyne.
Labour councillor Helen Ogbu was a more distant third in the constituency after the first count.
Constituents cast their votes on Friday to fill seats vacated by Catherine Connolly in Galway West when she became president and former minister Paschal Donohoe, who stopped representing Dublin Central to become the World Bank’s chief knowledge officer.
The protracted process of sorting and counting votes began at 9am at the RDS Simmonscourt in Dublin and the Galway Lawn Tennis Club.
Speaking as he arrived at the count centre, Ennis said he believed he topped the polls because “we didn’t bend on who we were”.
“It was just listening to people, meeting them where they were, whether they agreed with you or not,” he said.
“I believe in the politics of decency, politics of hope and inclusion, and people wanted that on the doors. They wanted that positive approach, they wanted change, but they wanted positive change.”
Janice Boylan, Sinn Féin’s candidate in Dublin Central – the constituency of party leader Mary Lou McDonald – finished second.
The party’s Galway West candidate, Mark Lohan, fared less favourably, with 6.7 per cent of first preference votes.
McDonald said it was “not our day” and said political growth sometimes takes “detours”.
In Galway West, Mr Thomas was ahead after the first count with 10,007 votes.
The poll topper is a former Fianna Fáil representative and was followed by Kyne for Fine Gael on 9,647 first preferences.
Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin was at the Galway Lawn Tennis Club for the count and told reporters his party has “real problems” with “some constituencies”.
The party lost its deposit over Dublin Central candidate John Stephens, who was excluded from the race after count two.
In Galway West, his candidate Cillian Keane had 8.8 per cent of first preferences.
Martin said the party will “examine” and “reflect” on the by-election results, adding: “We would have preferred a higher percentage outcome.”
He added: “We’ll do our homework and we always want to do better, and that’s our focus.”
Martin said it was a well-known pattern that by-elections do not correlate with general elections, adding that candidates can be shown to perform better in subsequent contests.
He said the frontrunners in Galway West – Kyne and Thomas – had gained profile in the previous general election.
The campaign of Gerard “The Monk” Hutch, who has been described in court by a judge as the patriarchal figurehead of the Hutch criminal organisation, was closely watched in Dublin Central.
He was eliminated from the race after the seventh count, having not appeared at the centre by that time.
Green Party candidate in Dublin Central Janet Horner, who performed well after the party lost all its seats bar one in the 2024 general election, was asked about outperforming Hutch.
She said they had “firmly rejected the type of politics that have been offered” and that had capitalised on people’s real frustrations.
She said: “It is frustrating to see how much of the media narrative that the likes of Hutch captured and I think the narrow stereotype of our wonderful, vibrant and diverse communities that we have in Dublin Central, that is maybe perpetuated as well.”
Labour’s Marie Sherlock, who took the last seat in Dublin Central in the 2024 general election, beating Hutch, said that they “heard a lot about Gerard Hutch” during the election campaign, but “his vote has slipped”.
“This playing up of him as a major electoral force to be reckoned with has not proven correct today,” she said.
