Voters picking two new TDs in by-elections

By Cillian Sherlock, Press Association

Two new members of the Dáil will be selected in by-elections on Friday.

Voters will choose from a range of candidates to fill the seats vacated by Catherine Connolly when she became president, and former minister Paschal Donohoe, who left political life to become the World Bank’s chief knowledge officer.

The respective by-elections are being held in Galway West and Dublin Central.

The candidates in Dublin Central include Sinn Féin’s Janice Boylan, who is hoping to secure a second seat in the constituency alongside party leader Mary Lou McDonald; Social Democrats candidate Daniel Ennis; Green Party’s Janet Horner; Dublin Lord Mayor and Fine Gael’s Ray McAdam; People Before Profit’s Eoghan O Ceannabhain; Fianna Fail’s John Stephens; Aontu’s Ian Noel Smyth and Labour’s Ruth O’Dea.

The campaign of Gerry “The Monk” Hutch, who has been described in court by a judge as the patriarchal figurehead of the Hutch criminal organisation, has also been closely watched in the constituency.

Independents Tony Corrigan, Colm Joseph Flood, Mannix Flynn, Malachy Steenson, and John O’Leary are also running.

The other TDs in the four-seater constituency are Labour’s Marie Sherlock, and Social Democrat Garry Gannon.

The current TDs for Galway West are Fianna Fail’s John Connolly, Sinn Féin’s Mairead Farrell, Minister of State and independent TD Noel Grealish, and Fine Gael Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton.

In contention for the fifth seat are Fine Gael’s Sean Kyne, Labour’s Helen Ogbu, Social Democrats’ Mide Nic Fhionnlaoich, Sinn Féin’s Mark Lohan, Green Party candidate Niall Murphy, Fianna Fáil’s Cillian Keane, People Before Profits’ Denman Rooke, Aontu’s Orla Nugent and Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas, formerly of Fianna Fáil.

Galway City mayor Mike Cubbard is among independents Neill Bairead, Patrick Feeney, Sheila Garrity, John O'Leary, Michael Ryan, and Thomas Welby – with AJ Cahill running for The Irish people.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said it was “very hard to call it” when asked on Thursday about the by-elections, and said Dublin Central had “historically been a more difficult constituency for us”.

Polling stations are open between 7am and 10pm with hand counting of the paper ballots to begin on Saturday.

Ireland’s use of a proportional representative system of a single-transferrable vote can see multiple rounds of recounting ballots over several hours as candidates are excluded from contention.