Carlow elects two TDs for the first time since 2007

TRIUMPH for Carlow in General Election 2024 with the county securing those elusive two seats – and coming agonisingly close to winning a third.

It’s been over a decade since Co Carlow held two Dáil seats in the five-seat Carlow/Kilkenny constituency, always a huge source of contention as the county strives to have its voice heard at national level. Newcomer Catherine Callaghan of Fine Gael defied all the odds to win a place in the Dáil, the Kildavin woman pulling in an impressive 6,788 first preference votes, which put her ahead of Kilkenny-based running mates David Fitzgerald and Michael Doyle.

Catherine’s widespread transfer appeal ensured that she remained ahead of her party colleagues as the count progressed, assuring her of the single Fine Gael seat available, given the party’s 23.6% share of the vote.

She exceeded the quota of 11,627 by a massive 2,464 votes to be elected on the 14th count.

Catherine now not only holds the distinction of being Fine Gael’s first female candidate on the ticket in Carlow/Kilkenny but its very first female TD.

Fianna Fáil’s Jennifer Murnane O’Connor successfully retained her Dáil seat with a solid 8,087 votes on the first count – the highest among the Carlow candidates on the ballot paper and second behind poll-topper and party colleague John McGuinness.

As transfers came into play in the race to the quota, Jennifer had to endure a long wait, with party colleagues McGuinness and Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere still in contention to mop up votes, while the eliminations largely came from Kilkenny-based candidates.

Neves jangled as echoes of the 2016 general election began to creep in – when Jennifer polled well but still lost out – but the Carlow native was finally elected shortly after 4am on Monday morning, taking the fourth seat on the 16th and final count without reaching the quota.

It was a phenomenal result for Fianna Fáil and the party’s best performance across the country, with all three of its candidates elected and taking in almost 36% of the vote. John McGuinness took the first seat on count 11, while Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere, who lives very close to the Carlow border in Skeoughvosteen, was elected to the third seat on count 15.

It was heartbreak for Sinn Féin’s Áine Gladney Knox despite her impressive first count of 6,479. The Bagenalstown native appeared to be in real contention for a seat right through the two-day count, sparking a buzz in the count centre that Carlow could possibly be on course for three seats from an all-female trio of Callaghan, Murnane O’Connor and Gladney Knox.

Sadly, Carlow’s political ‘All-Ireland’ win against the Cats was dashed in the latter end of the count, with Gladney Knox squeezed out by her running mate Natasha Newsome Drennan for the fifth and final seat.

Heartbreak, too, for outgoing minister of state Malcolm Noonan of the Green Party, who lost out, becoming another of the party’s casualties in General Election 2024.

Among the other Carlow-based candidates, Orla Donohoe from the Irish Freedom Party polled 737 first preferences, David Egan of Liberty Republic 169 and People Before Profit’s Adrienne Wallace 1,465.

Independent Tom Healy, based in Goresbridge, received 501 first preferences, while another candidate living on the border of both counties, Patricia Stephenson of the Social Democrats, received 3,387 first preferences and also proved very transfer friendly as the count progressed.