LAST UPDATE | 24 May

FINE GAEL’S SEÁN Kyne has won the Galway West byelection. 

He has been elected to the Dáil seat vacated by President Catherine Connolly after leapfrogging Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas in the eleventh and final count. 

Helen Ogbu of Labour was eliminated on the tenth count. 

After her votes were distributed, Kyne received 4,249 transfers to finish on 19,218 votes. This was some 2,699 votes ahead of Thomas, who received 1,273 transfers from Ogbu to finish on 16,519. 

Fine Gael had been hoping Kyne would benefit strongly from transfers in the final shakeup to overtake Thomas, who was leading the count since the first count on Saturday. 

Speaking to Galway Bay FM, Kyne said he was “absolutely delighted” with the result and thanked those who had voted for him. He also acknowledged the other candidates who had contested the byelection. 

“Putting yourself before the public is, as in the definition, a very public ordeal,” he said.

“I’d like to acknowledge the campaign of Noel Thomas, who’s also from Moycullen. It’s not easy for two candidates in the one parish to be fighting against each other, and I’m sure we’ll continue to work together for the benefit of Moycullen and the region.”

Independent Ireland's Noel Thomas with party colleagues Richard O'Donoghue and Ken O'Flynn at the Galway count centre this afternoon. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Kyne was hoisted up when the results were announced at the count centre at Galway Lawn Tennis Club alongside Business Minister Peter Burke and Tánaiste Simon Harris.

“I’m delighted for Seán Kyne personally, somebody who has worked so hard for Galway for such a long period time to be back on our team in Dáil Éireann,” Harris told RTÉ. 

He also said he was thrilled for his party, adding: “Governments generally don’t win byelections. Fine Gael has bucked the trend here today in Galway West.”

The Fine Gael leader said they would take this mandate “with humility”. 

Around 45,000 voters went to the polls in the vast constituency. The first count was announced at the Lawn Tennis Club Salthill at around 6.30pm on Saturday, before it was suspended for the day. It resumed at 9am this morning. 

Labour's Helen Ogbu after condeding defeat at the count centre in Galway. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Independent candidates John O’Leary, Patrick Feeney, Michael Ryan and Néill Bairéad, as well as People Before Profit’s Denman Rooke, were eliminated after the first count on Saturday. 

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AJ Cahill was eliminated after the second count, followed by Niall Murphy of the Green Party, Orla Nugent of Aontú and independent Sheila Garrity.

Independents Thomas Welby and Mike Hubbard, along with Sinn Féin’s Mark Lohan were subsequently eliminated. Fianna Fáil’s Cillian Keane and Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich of the Social Democrats were later ruled not to have received enough votes.  

From the first count, which was announced around 6.30pm on Saturday, Thomas and Kyne came out on top.

Speaking to The Journal before the first count was done, Thomas predicted correctly that he and Kyne would be “neck and neck”.

He said today that he feels it has come down to “recognition”, pointing to the fact that himself and Kyne are both long-standing politicians.

Kyne is in fact a former Fine Gael TD who was elected to the Seanad in March 2020 after losing his seat in the general election the previous month. Thomas is a former Fianna Fáil and now Independent Ireland councillor.

The early hours of this morning saw Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats take the seat in Dublin Central left vacant by former finance minister Paschal Donohoe.

With reporting by Jane Moore and Eoghan Dalton