At just before 5am last Sunday morning (February 27 ), Nicky McFadden, the 48-year-old senator from Arcadia, became the latest Fine Gael candidate to be elected to Dáil Eireann for the constituency of Longford-Westmeath.
She follows in the footsteps of James Bannon, Paul McGrath, Louis Belton, Pat Cooney, Gerry L’Estrange, Charles Fagan, Gen Sean McEoin, and PW Shaw.
Last Friday was the third time Dep McFadden faced the electorate from the entire constituency, in an active political career that has lasted just under a quarter of a century.
Bizarrely, Dep McFadden is the only TD in the entire constituency who doesn’t hail from the Ballynacarrigy-Legan power base, on the boundary between the counties along the R393, from where Penrose, Bannon and Troy all hail. She is the only urban representative elected from the towns of Mullingar (population 18,500 ), Longford (8,800 ) and Athlone(17,500 ).
Since 2007, Dep McFadden has been her party’s spokesperson on social and family affairs in the Senate, was co-opted to the county council on the retirement of her father Brendan in 2003, and elected to the Athlone Town Council in 1999.
Previously, Dep McFadden served on the board of management at Athlone Community College, chaired a strategic policy committee for Westmeath County Council, and the county heritage forum.
She polled fourth in the first count last Saturday with 6,129 votes, but picked up a healthy 5,100 over the next seven counts, after the falling of her three strong polling town mates - O’Rourke (3,046 ), Moran (3,707 ), and Hogan (4,339 ).
After her elevation to the Senate in 2007, Cllrs Mick O’Connell (town ) and John Dolan (county ) were co-opted to their respective councils in a party-inspired move to improve the Fine Gael vote in south Westmeath. However, this backfired at the local elections in 2009 when Nicky’s sister, Gabrielle, was elected to both councils, but only at the expense of O’Connell and Dolan, and not into extra seats as planned.
Nicky has a diploma in Legal Studies from the AIT, worked for nine years as a medical secretary, and also as an ESB employee.
