A by-election was held in the Dáil Éireann Dublin West constituency in Ireland on Thursday 27 October 2011,[1] following the death of Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) and former Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan Jnr on 10 June 2011.[2] The 2011 Irish presidential election and two constitutional referendums were held on the same day.
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| Turnout | 36,391 (58.3%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Dublin West shown within County Dublin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Patrick Nulty of the Labour Party was elected after a prolonged count.
Candidates edit
Thirteen candidates contested the by-election.[3][4] Four were members of Fingal County Council: David McGuinness of Fianna Fáil,[5] Eithne Loftus of Fine Gael,[6] Patrick Nulty of the Labour Party,[7] and Ruth Coppinger of the Socialist Party.[8] The other party candidates were Paul Donnelly of Sinn Féin,[9] Roderic O'Gorman of the Green Party[10] and Peadar Ó Ceallaigh of Fís Nua.[3]
There were six independent candidates: Gary Bermingham, a satirical actor and artist; Benny Cooney, a FÁS employee; Brendan Doris, an architect; Barry Caesar Hunt, a contestant in The Apprentice reality television show in 2010; John Frank Kidd, a retired fire officer; and Jim Tallon, a farmer.[3][4][11]
Donnelly, McGuinness, Nulty and O'Gorman had all been unsuccessful candidates in this constituency at the general election in February 2011.[12] Bermingham, Cooney, Ó Ceallaigh and Tallon had been candidates in other constituencies at the same election.[4]
Result edit
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| Labour | Patrick Nulty[7] | 24.3 | 8,665 | 8,885 | 10,186 | 13,027 | 17,636 | |
| Fianna Fáil | David McGuinness[14] | 21.7 | 7,742 | 7,935 | 8,720 | 9,873 | 11,590 | |
| Socialist Party | Ruth Coppinger[13] | 21.1 | 7,542 | 7,834 | 9,368 | 9,873 | ||
| Fine Gael | Eithne Loftus[6] | 14.7 | 5,263 | 5,410 | 5,942 | |||
| Sinn Féin | Paul Donnelly[15] | 8.9 | 3,173 | 3,309 | ||||
| Green | Roderic O'Gorman[10] | 5.0 | 1,787 | 1,925 | ||||
| Independent | Barry Caesar Hunt[11] | 2.2 | 775 | |||||
| Independent | John Frank Kidd[3] | 0.9 | 311 | |||||
| Independent | Gary Bermingham[3] | 0.5 | 185 | |||||
| Independent | Brendan Doris[3] | 0.3 | 95 | |||||
| Independent | Jim Tallon[3] | 0.2 | 73 | |||||
| Independent | Benny Cooney[3] | 0.1 | 51 | |||||
| Fís Nua | Peadar Ó Ceallaigh[3] | 0.1 | 40 | |||||
| Electorate: 62,396 Valid: 35,702 Spoilt: 689 (1.9%) Quota: 17,852 Turnout: 36,391 (58.3%) | ||||||||
A full recount was ordered after only 18 votes separated Socialist Party candidate Ruth Coppinger from Fianna Fáil candidate David McGuinness.[16] After the recount, both McGuinness and Coppinger had the same number of votes in the fourth count. Under electoral law Coppinger was eliminated, for McGuinness had more first-preference votes.[17][18]
It was the first time since July 1982 – when Noel Treacy won a seat in Galway East – that a candidate of a governing party won a by-election.[19] The result left Fianna Fáil with no TDs in Dublin city and County.[20]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Dublin West by-election set for 27 October". RTÉ News. 7 September 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ "Brian Lenihan dead from pancreatic cancer at 52". Irish Independent. 10 June 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Nominations close for Dublin West by-election". RTÉ News. 12 October 2011. Archived from the original on 13 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ^ a b c Reilly, Gavan (12 October 2011). "13 names in the running for Dublin West by-election". thejournal.ie. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ^ Duncan, Pamela (14 September 2011). "Running mate of Lenihan to contest Dublin West for FF". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 14 September 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ a b "FG select Dublin West by-election candidate". RTÉ News. 27 September 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ a b "Nulty to contest by-election for Labour". Irish Examiner. 20 September 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ Kelly, Fiach (12 September 2011). "Socialist by-election candidate holds on to her teaching post". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ "First candidates named in Dublin West by-election". The Journal. 9 September 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ a b Mary Minihan & Cian Nihill (9 September 2011). "Councillor warns against FG byelection 'carpetbagger'". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ a b "Candidates to step up canvassing". The Irish Times. 4 October 2011. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
- ^ "31st Dáil - Dublin West". Elections Ireland. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ a b "Dublin West by-election". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
- ^ "David McGuinness to contest by-election for FF". RTÉ News. 13 September 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
- ^ "Donnelly gets Sinn Féin nod for Dublin West by-election". Belfast Telegraph. 9 September 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
- ^ "Full recount ordered in Dublin West by-election". TheJournal.ie. 28 October 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
- ^ "Electoral Act, 1992, sec. 122 (3)". Irish Statute Book. Archived from the original on 14 November 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
- ^ "Labour's Pat Nulty elected in Dublin West". Irish Independent. 29 October 2011. Archived from the original on 30 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
- ^ O'Halloran, Marie (29 October 2011). "Labour wins Dublin byelection". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 30 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
- ^ "Nulty elected in Dublin West". Irish Examiner. 29 October 2011. Archived from the original on 1 November 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.