A landmark political milestone was the revelatory outcome from the Roscommon/Galway constituency following the formal count conclusion with the non-election of a Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael candidate for the inaugural occasion.
With three seats to be filled in the constituency, outgoing Independent TDs, Michael Fitzmaurice and Denis Naughten, were returned to continue their Dáil Éireann endeavours and in keeping with the Sinn Féin surge which enveloped the General Election vote, they will be joined in Leinster House by that political party’s candidate, Claire Kerrane.
The Sinn Féin Deputy replaces former Fianna Fáil TD, Eugene Murphy, who placed fourth in the constituency.
With a voter turnout of 66 percent, over three percent higher than the national figure (62.9 percent ), the candidates were tasked with attaining a 11,404 quota.
Independent, Michael Fitzmaurice, surpassed the noted figure required on the first count as he polled 13,077 electoral votes.
As power failures became a prevalent feature at the Dr. Hyde Park centre, four further counts elapsed prior to the election of Independent, Denis Naughten with a total of 14,683 votes (including transfers ), Claire Kerrane eclipsing Eugene Murphy by 1,341 votes to seal the third seat in the constituency following the conclusion of the sixth and final count.
