The surprise in the Dublin Bay South election was the loss of outgoing Sinn Féin TD Chris Andrews’s seat to Eoin Hayes of the Social Democrats. The newly minted TD had not been predicted to feature in any shakeout for the fourth and final seat which Andrews had been expected to hold.
Deputy leader of the Social Democrats Cian O’Callaghan said “none of the pundits or commentators gave him a look in or mention and I think he performed really well and I think it shows that our message really resonated with the voters of Dublin Bay South”.
Technology business consultant Hayes was newly elected in June to Dublin City Council for the Kimmage-Rathmines area before his successful Dáil run.
On his election Mr Hayes (37) said the Social Democrats were ready to enter government but had “five hard red lines” and would drive a hard bargain in coalition talks. He said they would bring social democratic principles and policies to government.
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The other change in the constituency was the success of Fine Gael’s James Geoghegan (38) a barrister and Lord Mayor of Dublin. His poll topping performance returned a seat to the party following the retirement of outgoing former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan and the disastrous showing of the party nationally. Labour leader Ivana Bacik and Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan comfortably retained their seats.
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