The great and the good of Irish political life gathered in Buswells Hotel, Dublin, on Wednesday night for the launch of The Irish Times Nealon’s Guide to the 34th Dáil and 27th Seanad – including the 2024 Local and European Elections.
The guide, which includes details of not just electoral winners and losers but the transfers of candidates’ votes was launched by the Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy, who described it as “the authoritative voice of political analysis”.
The guide’s editor Tim Ryan recalled the first guide was produced by Ted Nealon in 1973 before the age of the internet or Wikipedia. And while much of the information would be available in disparate places online, “there is always room for reference books”, which bring all the information together.
Some of the facts revealed by the guide were that the highest turnout in the last general election was the constituency of Wicklow, home constituency of Tánaiste Simon Harris who was also present as was Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe.
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Mr Ryan noted the lowest turnout was in Dublin Bay South, the constituency in which he lives and where Leinster House is located. “There may be a challenge there for the electoral commission,” he said.
He thanked the guide’s deputy editor, Marie O’Halloran of The Irish Times, editors Stephen Collins, Gerry Crosbie and Mark Tottenham and Lynda O’Keeffe of The Irish Times. He also thanked Ted Nealon’s son, Fergal, a county councillor from Sligo who was also present.
Other snippets from the guide revealed by Mr Ryan were that there was an unprecedented 65 new TDs out of the 174 returned in 2004, while 34 of the 60 Senators were new.
Just 44 of the 174 TDs, or a quarter, are women, but there are 27 women in the Seanad, or 45 per cent.
