In little over a week the class of 2024 will sit in Leinster House for the first time. On December 18th the 34th Dáil will commence, meeting to elect a new ceann comhairle or re-elect incumbent Seán Ó Fearghaíl.
Changed in complexion, this new, expanded Dáil of 174 deputies from 43 constituencies (up from 160 from 39 constituencies) includes the first TD born in the 21st century and a septuagenarian who first stepped through the doors of Leinster House in 1981 at the start of the 22nd Dáil.
Labour TD for Cork North Central Eoghan Kenny (24) was born in February 2000 as the new millennium dawned.
“I’m not the youngest ever TD, but the youngest in this Dáil,” he says.
He is one of 64 new TDs, an increase on the 48 who started in 2020, reflecting the significant number of retirees as well as 26 seat losses for outgoing TDs.
A business and religion teacher at Mayfield Community School in Cork, who lives with his grandmother, Kenny says Labour wants to “set the world alight”.
With 11 TDs in the Dáil – an increase from the six seats Labour won in the 2020 general election – “good representation is going to be provided by all,” he says.
The party will be focused on housing, healthcare, access to early-years education spaces and climate action – “in particular, resourcing small towns and villages to move to green policies”.
“That’s genuinely why there’s a real desire in people for a new generation of politicians and that new generation brings a whole new set of ideas,” says Kenny.
The oldest TD is one of nine politicians returning to the Dáil having previously lost their seats. Fianna Fáil TD for Donegal, Pat the Cope Gallagher (76), becomes the “father of the House” in the next Dáil, taking over that mantle from Fine Gael’s Bernard Durkan (79), who lost his seat in the election. Durkan was first elected to the Dáil on the same day as Gallagher more than 33 years ago.
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How does the former leas-cheann comhairle (deputy chairperson of the Dáil), minister of state and MEP feel about the title?
“Sure it’s factual and I just have to accept it. I’m grateful that my health is so good and that the people of Donegal of all ages have placed their faith in me,” he says.
Since Christmas 2019 Gallagher has walked 5.25km every day and by the fifth anniversary of this daily walk this month, he will have clocked up some distance.
“If I could walk on water, it would be from here to Boston,” he says.
The over-70s are well represented in the new Dáil. They include Gallagher’s party colleague Willie O’Dea (72) from Limerick City, Sinn Féin’s Dessie Ellis (71) from Dublin North-West, Independents Marian Harkin (71) from Sligo-Leitrim and Danny Healy-Rae (70) from Kerry, and two TDs who previously lost their seats – Independent Seamus Healy (74) from Tipperary North and Fianna Fáil’s Eamon Scanlon (70) from Sligo-Leitrim.
Promoting Gaeilge is a core priority for me. I believe the language is more than just a cultural treasure; it’s a tool for connection and identity and it deserves a vibrant future
— Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh
Nine TDs who lost seats have returned, including Independents Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran (Longford-Westmeath) and Dublin Mid-West’s Paul Gogarty, who is a former Green Party TD. Others to return include Senators Jerry Buttimer of Fine Gael from Cork South-Central and Timmy Dooley of Fianna Fáil from Clare.
Senators among the first-time TDs include Fine Gael’s Emer Currie from Dublin West, Fianna Fáil’s Erin McGreehan from Louth and Labour’s Marie Sherlock from Dublin Central.
Someone new to the Dáil who knows the place well is former chief commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Sinéad Gibney.
The Social Democrats TD appeared before Oireachtas committees in her role as commissioner and is “very familiar with how law and policy is developed”.
The 49-year-old does not fear change in her career. She previously worked for Google for eight years as head of social action responsible for corporate governance.
“When I left Google people thought I was insane. I’ve always gone with my gut and I’ve taken risks in my career,” she says.
She planned to run for the Social Democrats in the 2019 European elections but the job at the commission came up. She served four years of a five-year term before standing down to run unsuccessfully in the 2024 European elections. She lost a lot of money in the election campaign but started earning again from her work as a consultant while running her campaign for a Dáil seat.
What is she looking forward to most? “The policy part of it, and legislation,” she says.
She admits to being “absolutely crushed” when she lost out on a European Parliament seat in this year’s elections because she “worked so hard on learning new areas of policy and applying the existing areas that I understood.
“And it was just so heart wrenching that I wasn’t going to be able to do that. So for me it is getting in and developing the committee work, working on policy and legislation which is of benefit to people’s lives.”
Among the new TDs are 52 councillors and many who have or had other employment.
The new deputies include seven lawyers; six teachers; three lecturers; three farmers; three accountants; a GP; a pharmacist; four TDs working in mental health and disability; an undertaker; a theatre manager; a print company owner; former print company owner; two trade union officials; three involved in hospitality; and, in a growing area for incoming TDs, at least seven who work in the technology sector.
There are two TDs involved in construction, one of them Fine Gael Clare TD Joe Cooney, a former building contractor and Killaloe-based councillor for 20 years. Among the issues he plans to focus on are housing and the need for a new hospital in the midwest region, given the pressure on University Hospital Limerick.
“It’s a long way from Loop Head to the hospital in Limerick city,” he says.
The new TD considers the move from local to national politics as “playing senior hurling” now.
A number of new TDs are Irish speakers, including Sinn Féin’s Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh, elected to Kildare South.
“Promoting Gaeilge is a core priority for me,” says the primary schoolteacher. “I believe the language is more than just a cultural treasure; it’s a tool for connection and identity and it deserves a vibrant future.”
She sees the Dáil as a “key platform to normalise Gaeilge and highlight its importance in modern Irish life”. She adds: “I want to show that the language is for everyone, whether you’re fluent or just learning.”
The 41-year-old was diagnosed later in life with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and wants to advocate for women’s mental health – “particularly those who, like me, have been misdiagnosed or left waiting for years to get the support they need”.
She also wants to champion better support for educators and students because “I know how underfunding and lack of respect for the sector have impacted our schools and communities”.
A number of new TDs are following a family tradition by entering the Dáil, including Fianna Fáil’s Shay Brennan, son of late former minister Seamus Brennan, and Catherine Ardagh, son of the late TD Seán Ardagh.
Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn is son of former Fianna Fáil TD Noel O’Flynn, while Fine Gael TD Emer Currie is daughter of former Minister of State and SDLP MP Austin Currie and Grace Boland is daughter of late former Fine Gael minister John Boland.
Labour’s Mark Wall has taken the seat his father Jack Wall retired from in 2016, while Fine Gael’s John Cummins in Waterford is son of former Seanad leader Maurice Cummins.
Fresh faces, some older voices, newly returned, and the mix of re-elected deputies will form part of another Dáil that will be no less exciting or dramatic than its predecessor.
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