An energetic campaign sealed the deal for MEP

CARLOW’S first and newest MEP is this week in Brussels, taking her rightful place in the European Parliament just days after her triumphant election.

Cynthia Ní Mhurchú is relishing the opportunity to get to work, just ten weeks after she stepped onto the political stage for the first time; it’s all been nothing short of a whirlwind but one she’s taken in her stride.

“To get over 55,000 first preference votes I was honoured and privileged but then for that support to continue in the transfers. It went to the wire and came down to the transfers following Grace O’Sullivan’s elimination to ascertain how it would go.

“It was tense, it was anxious, but, to be honest, I was cosseted from a lot of that because of my wonderful team,” she told The Nationalist.

“I’d put my election down to one simple thing: having a great team behind me, all pulling together and a brilliant campaign manager in Martin O’Brien from Tipperary.

“I was lucky that he had the experience, having run the campaign of Malcom Byrne in 2019, and also his experience having been a member of Tipperary County Council and the fact he is massively steeped in Fianna Fáil politics with a deep knowledge and understanding of the grassroots. His political intelligence matched with my skillset and also the fact we worked morning, noon and night,” she added.

"I am also very happy that Ireland South now has two sitting Fianna Fáil MEPS in myself and Billy Kelleher working for the benefit of the voters and that can only lead to effective investments in the region in terms of foreign direct investment, attracting big global companies, investment in our infrastructure and investment in the region," she said.  

Cynthia explains her campaign was “very much on the ground”, getting around to all the GAA matches, sporting events, all the St Patrick’s Day parades, the farmers’ markets, the festivals and the field days, walking the promenade in Tramore … in fact, no stone was left unturned in the pursuit of getting to the people and spreading her message.

“What really surprised me, especially in the last few days of the campaign, was the amount of people who had not met one other European candidate. As Irish people, I think we like to meet people, we like to shake their hand, look them in the eye and see who they are and what they are about,” she said.

“I got out of the traps on 8 March and was well into my campaign meeting the grassroots, meeting communities, meeting the councillors before many of the other candidates had started.

“With the councillors it was a quick courtship because they didn’t know me, but I met them, engaged with them and addressed them, and what I was really struck by was the very effective organisation and the strength of the Fianna Fáil organisation across the region,” said Cynthia.

Much has been made of “the celebrity candidate” in these European elections and the importance of name recognition among the public. The former RTÉ broadcaster and Eurovision presenter is unequivocal in her acceptance of it.

“Oh, definitely, there is no doubt that it helped me. It was a point of contact, and people, especially older people, said they remembered me presenting the Eurovision and working on RTÉ, but that only breaks the ice and then they need to look at you and work out for themselves if they think I’m someone who can be effective in Europe. They saw I am a lawyer and would be well equipped to work on legislation within the European parliament and someone who they are receptive to being their representative,” said Cynthia.

Undoubtedly impressive and believable, Cynthia, it seems, had the public convinced.

If the tallies from St Laurence O’Toole’s count centre were anything to go by, it was clear as the boxes were opened on the Saturday after polling day that Cynthia was very much supported by her home county. 

She speaks fondly of the support she received from Carlow, her sister Sharon, who lives in Dún Laoghaire, her family, her late parents’ nieces and nephews, her uncle Cormac Brophy in Ballybar, her connections through the Gaelscoil and the Gaelcholáiste, where her children went to school, her involvement with Éigse and in more recent times her busy practice as a barrister.

This hugely exciting time for Cynthia has, however, not been without its sadness, following the death of her father-in-law Paddy Kavanagh from Kilkenny Road, Carlow in his 98th year on polling day. He was laid to rest the day before counting in the European elections began in earnest, so it was a day of enormous mixed emotions for the family.

“During the campaign, Paddy was in poor health and I was very conscious of my husband John and our children (David and Rachel), for whom Paddy was their only grandfather, because my own father died when I was 17. Paddy was a wonderful grandfather, so it was very difficult. It was very sad and poignant that he died on the day of polling. I got the call to say he had passed away peacefully as I was calling into some of the polling stations in Carlow.

“He was very excited about me running and so supportive; he was a wonderful grandparent to our children, so it was all a bit of a rollercoaster and I was very conscious of poor John in all this … so it was tinged with sadness,” added Cynthia.

With Ireland one of the last EU countries to confirm its MEP selection, there is “a bit of a rush on” to get to Brussels and choose various committees and areas of special interest. “I am hitting the ground running this week so it’s all guns blazing.

“I am very excited really. From the moment I agreed to be a candidate, I haven’t regretted that decision once. You take a decision to change your life … I didn’t think I could be more enthusiastic, but I am,” she said. Also off to Brussels this week is Sinn Féin's Kathleen Funchion. The Carlow/Kilkenny TD put in an impressive performance to also take a seat in Ireland South.