Election 2024Constituency Profile

Kildare South constituency profile: Fianna Fáil senator may benefit from Sinn Féin in-fighting

Election 2024: Fine Gael junior minister Martin Heydon seeking re-election and should get over the line handily enough

Kildare South Constituency map
Election 2024: In the Kildare South constituency Labour's Mark Wall has a realistic chance of winning a seat
Cormac McQuinn's picture
Cormac McQuinn
Thu Nov 07 2024 - 12:10

Outgoing TDs: Patricia Ryan (Ind), Seán Ó Fearghaíl (FF), Martin Heydon (FG), Cathal Berry (Ind)

Who are the candidates running in Kildare South? Deputy Patricia Ryan (Ind) Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl (FF – automatically returned as the outgoing Ceann Comhairle), Deputy Martin Heydon (FG), Deputy Cathal Berry (Ind), Senator Mark Wall (Lab), Senator Fiona O’Loughlin (FF), Cllr Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (SF), Cllr Chris Pender (SD), Cllr Tom McDonnell (Ind), Melissa Byrne (Aon), Monaa K Sood (GP), Anthony Casey (IFP), Rob Cosgrave (PBP-Sol), Edel Doran (II), William Carton (II)

Officially a four-seater, Kildare South effectively only has three seats up for grabs. This is because Seán Ó Fearghaíl – a Fianna Fáil TD and the outgoing Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil – intends to retain his seat, as is his right under the Constitution due to his senior role in Leinster House.

As this is traditionally a strong constituency for Fianna Fáil there is a good opportunity for Senator Fiona O’Loughlin – who lost her seat in 2020 – to make a return to the Dáil this time around.

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One thing that shook things up in the constituency – potentially opening it up somewhat – was former Sinn Féin TD Patricia Ryan’s surprise departure from the party. When she said she was quitting Sinn Féin she cited a number of complaints she had about the party. One related to her dissatisfaction over the handling of local tensions and an incident where questions to the leadership had been “vetted”.

Other members of the Monasterevin Kildangan Sinn Féin cumann also quit amid the fallout. Ryan denied that she resigned from Sinn Féin because the general election candidate selection convention was going to be contested. She had topped the poll in Kildare South as part of Sinn Féin’s surge in 2020 despite taking a pre-planned holiday during the campaign. Ryan faces a fight if she is to be re-elected as an Independent and will probably point to her work helping constituents over the last four years as she seeks to retain her seat.

Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh, a teacher and Sinn Féin’s only councillor in Kildare, is now the party’s candidate. Sinn Féin’s chances of keeping its former seat have not been made easier by Ryan staying in the race.

Fine Gael Minister of State for Agriculture Martin Heydon, first elected to the Dáil in 2011, is his party’s standard bearer in the constituency and he should get over the line handily enough. Former Defence Forces officer Cathal Berry, an independent, is also seeking re-election. He may have a battle on his hands but also has a decent chance of a return to the Dáil.

Labour Party Senator Mark Wall, son of former TD Jack Wall, got a first-preference vote of almost 6,000 in 2020 and should not be written off. The Social Democrats candidate is Chris Pender, who comfortably got elected to Kildare County Council in June in the Newbridge local electoral area with almost 1,500 votes. Whether that can translate into enough support across the constituency to be in the running for a Dáil seat remains to be seen.

Cllr Tom McDonnell, an Independent politician who ran in the local election campaigning on what he described as uncontrolled immigration, is making a tilt at the Dáil. He will need many more than the 548 first-preference votes he got in June if he is to succeed. Aontú is running Melissa Byrne, who was unsuccessful in her local election bid in Newbridge. The Green Party has selected pharmacist Monaa K Sood as its candidate. Independent Ireland has two candidates – Edel Doran and William Carton.

Towns in the constituency include Athy and Monasterevin. Kildare South encompasses the Curragh and therefore includes a significant population with links to the Defence Forces. Recruitment and retention in the military is an issue. Farming and horse sport are also areas candidates will want to be across, along with issues typical of commuter counties such as housing and transport. The three available seats in Kildare South will be hotly contested.

Possible outcome: Fianna Fáil (2), Fine Gael (1), (Battle between Independents, Sinn Féin and Labour for other seat)