Seeking to rewrite the history books
comfort in the familiar, and are generally mistrustful of the unknown. Which makes the task for the newcomers in this year’s General Election all the more daunting.
For Seánie O’Shea of Independents 4 Change and Paula Roseingrave of The Green Party this will be their first time on a polling card, their first time putting their faith in the public and their first time stood anxiously in the count centre waiting to see if that faith is rewarded.
And while Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council Michael Sheehan has over 20 years experience at local level this is his first time being named as a General Election candidate.
The same goes for Jim Codd of Aontú who successfully contested last year’s locals before finishing sixth in last November’s by-election.
Similarly, although she has garnered plenty of headlines since her arrival on the political scene, this will also be a new experience for Verona Murphy.
The latter is certainly expected to figure in the shake-up but she, along with the rest of the newcomers, are surely aware of how difficult it will be to shift voters away from the names they know best.
Yet there is just enough precedent to suggest it could happen.
While the first two decades of General Elections in the county saw names like Richard Corish, James Ryan and Denis Allen dominate the polls; serving term after term throughout the 1920s, 30s and 40s; a new name entered Wexford’s political sphere in 1943.
At the age of 49, John O’Leary (Labour) was a first-time candidate in that year’s election, and, despite receiving less first-preference votes, he beat out Fine Gael’s John Keating on countbacks in the race for the fifth seat.
This was the beginning of a fourteen-year spell in Dáil Éireann for Deputy O’Leary, one which only ended in 1957 when, upon losing his seat, he was elected to the Seanad.
Perhaps the most famous example of a first-timer being elected in Wexford occurred in 1961 when Lorcan Allen, at the age of just 21, finished third in what was then a four-seater.
He remained a TD until 1982 and was made Minister of State for the Department of Agriculture by Charles Haughey in 1979. To this day he remains the third youngest TD in the history of the State.
The fifth-youngest TD in the history of the State is from Enniscorthy. Now more commonly-known as a broadcaster, Ivan Yates burst onto the political scene in 1981 when, as a first-time candidate, he took the second of five seats in the General Election.
The Fine Gael Deputy stayed in Government until his retirement from politics in 2002; topping the polls in 1997 and serving as Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry from 1994 to 1997.
Wexford’s only female TD was also a successful first-time candidate. Having been elected to Wexford County Council and to Wexford Corporation in 1974 at the age of 25, Avril Doyle (Fine Gael) finished fourth in 1982’s second General Election.
Ms Doyle lost her seat at the 1989 general election but was re-elected in the 1992 general election.
The outcome of the 2002 General Election may offer some inspiration to Seánie O’Shea and Paula Roseingrave. Having never ran as a politician before at any level, Tony Dempsey won a seat in Dáil Éireann at the expense of his Fianna Fáil colleague Hugh Byrne.
And like Mr O’Shea, the firsttime candidate was primarily known for his involvement in the sporting field; indeed, he was manager of Wexford’s Senior Hurling team at the time of his election.
However, the one thing all of those first-timers have in common is their affiliation to one of the nation’s major political parties. Whether it was Labour, Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil, each had the backing of a traditional powerhouse and all that comes with it.
This year’s newcomers feature just one such candidate; Cllr Micheal Sheehan of Fianna Fáil.
So while it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that an Independent candidate like Verona Murphy could win a seat in the Dáil on her very first attempt, or an entirely new name like Paula Roseingrave could usurp the more established candidates, history at least suggests it’s unlikely.