MARY LOU LAMENTS ‘BRUISING WEEKEND’
‘TDs off to EU seats won’t mean an early General’
‘BRING IT ON’: Mary Lou McDonald at the RDS
THE final local election counts will take place today as the last dozen local authority seats will be decided.
Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald last night conceded that her party had run too many candidates in the local elections but said “bring it on” when asked if she was ready for a general election.
At 7pm last night, 900 seats were filled. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail were neck in neck to be the largest party at local authority level with 232 and 231 seats, respectively.
This was followed by Sinn Fein on 96 seats, Labour on 55, the Social Democrats on 35, the Green Party on 23, People Before Profit on 13 and Aontu on eight.
Independents had 174 seats, while those in the “other” category had 33.
Recounts
Several recounts are expected to take place across the country and it is envisaged that all 949 seats will be filled today.
In the RDS last night, Ms McDonald said her party has had a “bruising weekend” and “hasn’t met our ambitions”.
After the 2020 general election, Ms McDonald repeatedly said she accepted that she had not run enough candidates.
When this was put to her by The Star last night, she accepted that the opposite had happened in the 2024 local and European elections.
“To answer your question directly, yes. It is obvious that now that we ran too many candidates.”
Asked if she was ready for a general election, she said: “Bring it on.”
Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have gained 25 per cent of the vote share.
Independents have taken a 20 per cent vote share, while Sinn Fein have 11 per cent. Labour have 6 per cent, while Social Democrats have 4 per cent and the Green Party have 2.5 per cent.
THE successful election of sitting TDs to Europe will not lead to an early general election, Tanaiste Micheal Martin has insisted.
He made the comments as Fianna Fail TD Barry Cowen was amongst the front-runners to win a seat in the European Parliament, with TDs from other parties also in the running.
With many of his backbenchers questioning the wisdom of a by-election so close to the end of the Government’s term, Mr Martin told the Star that he “likes byelections”.
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Speaking to reporters in the RDS yesterday, Mr Martin appeared to rule out the possibility of a General Election this year.
“I do. You discover a county in an intimate way. But in a serious way from a political point of view, you look at [Fianna Fail TDs] Thomas Byrne, John Lahart, Padraig O’Sullivan.
“It gave them a very strong platform. If you look at it from an electoral perspective for subsequent general elections that were held fairly quickly afterwards.
“They don’t hold any fears for me in that respect.”
Asked if the Government should press ahead with a by-election during the summer, the Tanaiste said “we settle down now for a while” as they “need to govern”.
He also doubled down on the idea that the Government will run its full term to next February or March.
Mr Martin insisted that “May/ June is an optimal time in Ireland” for an election”. “But I’m afraid May and June, effectively, has passed. The possibility of holding an election in May/June is long gone, obviously,” he added.
“We have agreed to go the full term. Myself, the Taoiseach and Eamon [Ryan] have agreed that.” It is expected that a number of other European candidates will be confirmed as elected today.
The count centre in the RDS Simmonscourt, sorting through votes for the four Dublin seats, had reached its 11th count by last night.
Fianna Fail’s Barry Andrews and Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty remained neckand-neck throughout the day, but neither hit the quota of 75,345 votes.
Smaller candidates on both the right