SUPER SUNDAY FOR SINN FÉIN
ELECTION 2020: Fitzer holds onto his seat
Sinn Féin celebrated a stunning General Election result in Louth as the battle for the other seats in the constituency went right down to the wire.
Outgoing TD Imelda Munster and newcomer Ruairí Ó Murchú combined for a whopping 42% of first preferences, or nearly 30,000 votes, to get elected on the first count.
Munster topped the poll on 17,203 as Ó Murchú comfortably held the seat vacated by Gerry Adams with 12,491.
‘It’s a wonderful endorsement,’ the Drogheda woman said. ‘I think it was our message for change which resonated with everybody.’
Munster achieved the eighth highest vote in the country, all those ahead of her are party colleagues, as a wave of SF support swept the nation.
Ó Murchú described his achievement as ‘really humbling’ and admitted the magnitude of the landslide in Louth came as something of a surprise.
‘In one sense, we did not expect the vote to be as high as it was,’ remarked the Dundalk man. ‘We heard people saying they were fed up with Fianna Fáíl and Fine Gael.’ The Sinn
Féin duo were the only candidates elected in the Carnbeg Hotel on Sunday, following the first Saturday General Election since 1918.
Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáíl suffered a drop in their share of the vote compared to 2016, but Fergus O’Dowd (FG) managed to retain his seat.
Splitting with the party did Peter Fitzpatrick no harm. Standing as an Independent, having been elected on the FG ticket last time, he held on to his seat. He becomes the first Independent TD for Louth since James Coburn in 1933.
Labour’s Ged Nash, meanwhile, is returning to Dáil Eireann, after losing his place in 2016.
The big casualty was Declan Breathnach (FF), the only outgoing TD not to be returned. He remained in the hunt right until the end but transfers from the Green Party’s Mark Dearey did not work out for him.