‘A reversal of fortune as Fine Gael win three out of five for the first time and Fianna Fail are reduced to just a single seat’
There were no Constituency Commission boundary changes here since 2007 and it remained a five-seat constituency.
This was another example of Fine Gael’s good vote management in this election as they managed to convert 2.4 quotas into three seats. Their vote was up 10 points on 2007 and John Paul Phelan topped the poll, just ahead of outgoing deputy Phil Hogan. This constituency like many others came down to a battle for the final seat, this time between Carlow-based Pat Deering of Fine Gael and Bobby Aylward of Fianna Fáil. Deering was in the frame in fifth place on the first count and about 700 votes ahead of Aylward. He maintained his advantage throughout the count and went on to take the final seat by a comfortable margin.
Former Ceann Comhairle Seamus Pattison had held a seat here for Labour from 1961 until his retirement in 2007 when the party failed to retain his seat. They increased their vote in this election by 7 points on the party’s 2007 performance and with one quota between the party’s two candidates they were well placed to regain their seat. Kilkenny-based Ann Phelan was well ahead of running mate, Carlow-based Des Hurley on the first count and she went on to take the first seat on the 12th count.
This was another very poor result for Fianna Fáil as the party went from three seats in 2007 to just one in 2011, despite getting their best first preference vote of this election, 28.10% in this five seater. M J Nolan retired and Jennifer Murnane O’Connor replaced him on the ticket. The Fianna Fáil vote was down by 20 points but with 1.7 quotas they should have been in contention for a second seat. But their vote was spread over three candidates and this left Aylward outside the frame on the first count and Fianna Fáil ended up with just a single seat as Aylward lost the battle for the final seat.
Sinn Fein increased its vote by six points but with just 0.6 quotas spread over two candidates, the party’s leading candidate Kathleen Funchion was too far off the pace and was outside the frame on the first count with less than half a quota. She thus had little chance of a seat and so it proved.
Outgoing Green party TD and Minister of State Mary White lost her seat as she got just 2.8% of the first preference vote and she, like many of her party colleagues, lost the right to reclaim her expenses.
Conor MacLiam of the Socialist party, the widower of the late Susie Long , did poorly and got just 2% of the vote. He lost his right to reclaim his expenses, as did all seven independent candidates who all polled poorly. |