THE SIGNALS WERE there from early yesterday morning but it has been an absolutely disastrous weekend for Renua, one of Ireland’s newest political parties.
Lucinda Creighton’s party failed to win a single seat in the 32nd Dáil, with the leader losing her own mandate in Dublin Bay South along the way.
The former Fine Gael TD – who was on course for a seat at the Cabinet table before her departure over the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act – lost out to her old colleague Eoghan Murphy and his new running mate Kate O’Connell.
They will be joined in Leinster House – quite unexpectedly – by the Green Party’s Eamon Ryan and Fianna Fáil candidate Jim O’Callaghan.
The party had hoped to win 10 seats and ran 26 candidates in the 40 Dáil constituencies.
Tonight, its final realistic shots at a seat – in Billy Timmons and Terence Flanagan – were denied.
Timmons lost his seat in Wicklow, which has been in the family since 1969 bar a hiatus between 1987 and 1989.
Outgoing TD and former poll topper Flanagan was eliminated after count nine with just over 3,500 votes in Dublin Bay North.
Despite the drubbing at the polls, members have been resolute about Renua’s future. Creighton’s husband and party colleague Senator Paul Bradford told RTÉ Radio One this evening that the result did not signal the end.
His comments echoed those he made yesterday after conceding in Cork East. Citing the Green Party again, he said that it has managed to rejuvenate itself after being decimated in 2011, securing two seats on a shoestring budget this time out.
He said Renua is a long-term project and that they will continue with it.
If you believe in something… you must plough ahead. You have to climb mountains.
Creighton herself has been quiet today, not doing the media rounds. But she has been philosophical on her social media accounts.
Another silver lining? The party reached the 2% threshold for state funding, so if it does want to keep going, it will be a little more cash-rich in future elections.
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