The fierce contest for supremacy in local government between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is currently too tight to predict as counting in the local and European elections rolls into the second day. As of now, less than 25% of local authority seats are filled, with Fine Gael slightly ahead with a return of 73 seats and command of 23.23% of first preference votes. Trailing behind is Fianna Fáil with 64 seats and approximately 22% of the vote share.
A Fianna Fáil Minister, albeit anonymously, described the race as “neck and neck” and further stated on Sunday, “At this juncture, neither faction can definitively claim to be in the lead.” Independent candidates are having a good run with almost 27% of the vote share, leading the charge.
Sinn Féin seems to have had a lacklustre day, with David Cullinane, their Waterford TD, admitting on RTÉ radio that current outcomes were not up to their expectations. Despite winning roughly 11% of first preference votes in the ongoing local elections, based on present declarations, Cullinane dispelled the idea that Sinn Féin had been indifferent.
Although this performance reflects a two-point increase from the 2019 local elections, it is still significantly lower than the 24.5% vote share secured in the 2020 general elections and the subsequent polling conducted last year. Cullinane urged not to undervalue the backbone of the Sinn Féin party, citing the complexity of transfer votes in determining some council seats.
Talking about the party’s performance, he said, “We indeed anticipated better results. I don’t mean that this has been a successful outing for Sinn Féin, far from it,” he expressed. “We were in no way lax. When we don’t perform well, we own up to it. We need to engage in some self-reflection and ask why we couldn’t secure the number of votes we anticipated.”
Upon arriving at the RDS count centre for the Dublin seat in the European Parliament, Eamon Ryan, the Green Party leader, commented that the electoral outcome was a “mixed bag” for his candidates. While it was premature to confirm whether Ciarán Cuffe would retain her seat in Dublin or Grace O’Sullivan would hold onto her seat in Ireland South.
Sinéad Gibney, contending for Dublin under the banner of the Social Democrats, acknowledged that capturing a seat in the capital would be a challenging endeavour, however, the party seems to have increased its local representation.
The party’s tacticians anticipate accruing seats in Bandon-Kinsale with Ann Bambury, Caroline Winstanley in Bray West, Danny Alvey in Wicklow, Jen Cummins in the South West Inner City, Paddy Monahan in Donaghmede and Pádraig Rice in Cork City South Central.
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, Dublin’s MEP candidate for the Labour party, professed his aspiration to secure a Dublin seat, stating that it marked a significant transformative moment for his party. He expressed optimism in the party’s revived self-assurance, at the RDS.
In the Midlands-North-West, incumbent MEP Luke “Ming” Flanagan expressed satisfaction with the current tallies. He went on to add, “We’ll wait and see, but if someone had indicated to me three or four weeks ago the tallies would be as they currently are, I would be pleased.”
He further ventured, Sinn Féin faced a “battle” to win a seat in the constituency, a scenario he termed as “unbelievable” considering their standing in opinion polls over a year ago.
In Dublin, an interim tally of European votes which carried substantial disclaimers, placed Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews at the top, leading his counterparts with a 13.1-percent tally, followed closely by Regina Doherty of Fine Gael on 12.3 per cent.
Ms Doherty described a palpable aura of enthusiasm enveloping her party campaigns, fuelled by Simon Harris’s election as the Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach just over two months ago. She shared that there was an air of positivity as her party was enjoying a “fruitful weekend”.
Analysts calculated Mr Ó Ríordáin’s vote share as 12.2 per cent, but cautioned that this encompassed all of Clontarf – one of his key supporter hubs within the Dublin Bay North constituency. Meanwhile Sinn Féin representative, Lynn Boylan stood at 10.6 per cent. Clare Daly from Independents for Change had a tally of 7.2 per cent and Mr Cuffe measured up at 8.4 per cent.