Stephen Donnelly, the Fianna Fáil Minister for Health, was the highest profile casualty in the general election after being eliminated on the final count in Wicklow.
Taoiseach Simon Harris was elected on the first count on Saturday after topping the poll with 16,869 votes, exceeding the 11,415 quota by more than 5,000 votes.
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore took the second seat on the ninth count, while Sinn Féin TD John Brady also retained his on the eleventh count.
A close race for the final seat unfolded in the early hours of Sunday morning between Donnelly and the Taoiseach’s west Wicklow running mate, Cllr Edward Timmins.
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Timmins benefitted, in particular, from the Taoiseach’s large surplus which saw him leapfrog Donnelly and former Fine Gael representative, Cllr Shay Cullen of Newtownmountkennedy.
Ultimately, Donnelly was unable to bridge a gap which never fell below 1,000 votes and Timmins was deemed elected on the 13th count at 5.25am on Monday.
Green Party TD Steve Matthews was one of many deputies in his party to lose out. He was never seriously in the running after taking just over 2,300 first preferences, or 4 per cent, almost half on his performance in the 2020 general election
