Updated 3 March
THERE WERE ALWAYS going to be some casualties after five years of austerity but there are some heavy hitters vacating the Dáil.
Here’s the final ‘who’s who’ of those in need of a new job (or indeed, a return to their old ones) from today.
Tom Barry, Cork East
One of the more infamous moments of the 31st Dáil included this Cork East TD.
He was caught up in the so-called lapgate controversy after he pulled colleague Áine Collins onto his lap during a late-night sitting of the chamber while the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill was being debated. Collins, coincidentally, also lost her seat this weekend.
Áine Collins, Cork North-West
A first-time TD in 2011, Collins told TheJournal.ie that the scandal was a missed opportunity to put more focus on gender inequality in the Dáil.
She said that the incident did not define her and she was hoping to be remembered for her enthusiasm for entrepreneurship. She sat on the jobs committee and created mentorship programmes.
Collins was eliminated after the seventh count with 7,388 votes.
Alan Shatter, Dublin Rathdown
One of the most high-profile casualties of the election.
The former justice minister has had a long fall from grace, culminating in his elimination from the Dublin Rathdown count on Saturday.
He lost out to party colleague Josepha Madigan. Obviously, he didn’t go quietly, telling his party they interfered unnecessarily with vote management in his constituency.
Derek Keating, Dublin Mid-West
The Fine Gael incumbent conceded early as it looked clear he wouldn’t be re-entering Leinster House for the 32nd Dáil.
He lost his seat to Fianna Fáil’s John Curran who makes a return to the Oireachtas, current Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and new kids on the block Gino Kenny of AAA-PBP and Eoin Ó Broin of Sinn Féin.
Paul Connaughton, Galway East
Another loss for the government parties in Galway, Paul Connaughton lost his seat as independent Seán Canney topped the poll.
The 33-year-old former councillor is the son of Paul Senior who was a deputy for more than 30 years.
During his own time on Kildare Street, Connaughton Jnr sat on the ever-busy Public Accounts Committee.
Noel Coonan, Tipperary
The 65-year-old Tipperary North TD entered the Dáil in 2007 but lost his seat this weekend.
He was eliminated after the third count in the new all-Tipperary five-seat constituency.
His most controversial moment in the Dáil came in November 2014 when he mentioned an ‘Isis situation’ while talking about water charge protests in Jobstown.
Tom Hayes, Tipperary
Coonan’s running mate Tom Hayes also lost out, making it a disastrous election for Fine Gael in Tipperary, returning no seats in the giant one-county constituency.
A junior minister, Hayes has been a FG stalwart since being elected on his second attempt in 2011.
Noel Harrington, Cork South-West
Also a first-time TD in 2011, the Castletownbere native chaired the Internal Committee on Social Protection in the Dáil.
John Perry, Sligo-Leitrim
Added to the ticket after a High Court challenge, Perry loses the seat he’s held since 1997. He had served as junior Minister for Enterprise.
Jerry Buttimer, Cork South-Central
The former chair of the Oireachtas Health Committee and a prominent member of the Yes campaign in the Marriage Equality Referendum last year, loses out in the Cork “group of death”.
He joins Ciaran Lynch in losing a seat in the former five-seater, which is now a four-seat constituency.
James Reilly, Dublin Fingal
The former Health Minister loses out to his party-mate Alan Farrell in the five-seat Dublin Fingal.
He had held the seat since 2007.
Michelle Mulherin, Mayo
Swept in as Fine Gael took four seats in 2011, she has been squeezed out of the now four-seat constituency as Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil took two seats each.
John O’Mahony, Galway West
The former Mayo football manager was moved from his base to Galway as the constituency lost a seat.
The tactic hasn’t worked this time and he was eliminated in the 13th round.
Jimmy Deenihan, Kerry
He first entered politics in 1983 when he was elected to the Seanad. He then was elected to the Dáil in 1987 and has retained his seat at each election since – until tonight. He most recently served as Minister of State for Diaspora Affairs, but was eliminated on count 11 this evening.
James Bannon, Longford-Westmeath
The last TD to lose his seat, an exhausted James Bannon spoke emotionally to Morning Ireland about his county Longford’s lack of representation nationally.
Joe O’Reilly, Cavan-Monaghan
The former member of the Seanad who was elected TD in 2011 lost his seat in the Cavan/Monaghan constituency.
Anthony Lawlor, Kildare North
The farmer who was elected as a TD for Kildare North in 2011 lost his seat. He has been in politics since 1998 when he was co-opted onto Kildare County Council as an Independent.
Kieran O’Donnell, Limerick City
Elected first as a Limerick city councillor in 2004, he was elected to the Dáil in 2007 and retained his seat in 2011. However, the 52-year-old has now lost his seat in the Limerick city constituency.
Gabrielle McFadden, Longford-Westmeath
The Longford Westmeath TD conceded defeat.
She became a TD in 2014 after a seat was vacated by the death of her sister, Nicky
Paudie Coffey, Waterford
Coffey, who was a TD since 2011, was pipped at the post for the final seat in his constituency by Fine Gael’s John Deasy.
Ray Butler, Meath West
The former mayor of Trim lost his seat after being elected to the Dáil on his first attempt in 2011.
Alex White, Dublin Rathdown
A high-profile loss for Labour, White served as a minister in the last government after being elected to the Dáil in 2011. “It’s not a great feeling but that’s the way it goes,” he said after his elimination in Dublin Rathdown yesterday.
Ann Phelan, Carlow-Kilkenny
Ann Phelan received a huge amount of press ahead of the election – but for the wrong reasons. She walked out of a local radio interview, later claiming she was tired and hungry and fed up of being talked over.
She was eliminated after the eighth count with 5,596 votes – well off the 11,669 quota.
Joanna Tuffy, Dublin Mid-West
Joanna Tuffy exited with a pun – and a promise that she will contest the next election.
Dominic Hannigan, Meath East
Another graceful departure from Dominic Hannigan saw him wish his replacements well in their new roles.
No wonder, his Twitter bio reads: Spurs fan. Eternal optimist.
Michael McNamara, Clare
Aged 41, McNamara was a barrister and human rights lawyer before he entered the Dáil on his first attempt in 2011. So far, he has lost out to Timmy Dooley, a Fianna Fáil mainstay, and newcomer and single-issue candidate Michael Harty who is running on the No Doctor, No Village campaign. However, he has requested a recount which will take place later this morning.
Eric Byrne, Dublin South Central
Byrne was one of the first to concede on Saturday morning, outlining his relief because he said the next Dáil will be chaotic.
Michael McCarthy, Cork South-West
A senator until 2011, he was elected to the Dáil on his third attempt. It wasn’t to be two-in-a-row for McCarthy however, as he failed to get past count two this time around.
Joe Costello, Dublin Central
Another major loss for Labour, Joe Costello has been a member of Dáil Eireann since 1992 with just a five-year hiatus between 1997 and 2002. The 70-year-old, originally from Sligo, is a former Minister of State for Trade and Development, and he also served as chairperson of the European Union Affairs Committee.
Derek Nolan, Galway West
Nolan, who was elected as a TD in 2011, said he didn’t want the public’s pity after losing his seat and added that he would be “looking for a new job” this week.
John Lyons, Dublin North-West
In the only constituency which didn’t return a Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael TD last time, Lyons looks set to be edged out by either FG’s Noel Rock or FF’s Paul McAuliffe.
Ciarán Lynch, Cork South Central
Lynch, who chaired the Banking Inquiry, loses out in Cork South Central, which was cut from a five-seat to a four-seat constituency. He had represented the area since 2007.
Kevin Humphreys, Dublin Bay South
The Minister of State for Employment, Community and Social Support loses the seat he won in 2011. Alan Kelly described him as “one of the hardest workers in the Labour Party”.
Emmett Stagg, Kildare North
Stagg loses his first election since 1981, ending a 29-year Dáil career.
The 71-year-old had served as Labour chief whip.
Anne Ferris, Wicklow
A TD since 2011, she was briefly expelled from the Labour Party last year for voting against the government on a bill which called for the legalisation of abortion in the case of fatal foetal abnormalities.
Ciara Conway, Waterford
Elected first as a TD in 2011 on her first attempt, she was formerly a Dungarvan town councillor.
Kathleen Lynch, Cork North-Central
The junior Minister at the Department of Health with special responsibility for primary care, mental health and disability joins her brother-in-law Ciaran Lynch in losing her seat.
Arthur Spring, Kerry
The nephew of former Labour tánaiste Dick Spring and the grandson of former TD Dan Spring, Arthur was eliminated in Kerry on the tenth count.
Ged Nash, Louth
The second Labour minister to lose their seat. Nash served as super junior minister for business and employment since July 2014.
Colm Keaveney, Galway East
The Labour TD jumped ship after a he lost the whip by voting against cuts to the respite care grant.
He joined Fianna Fáil in 2013 but the transfer didn’t help the 44-year-old’s cause in Galway.
He was eliminated after the fifth count with 6,700 votes, short of the 11,310 quota.
His running mate Anne Rabbitte took the seat on first time of trying. Some people were sad to see him go.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, first elected as TD in 2011, conceded his seat to Thomas Pringle in Donegal. He was his party’s Spokesperson on Justice, Equality and Defence and the chairman of the Dáil Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions.
Lucinda Creighton, Renua, Dublin Bay South
It was always going to be a tough constituency but Lucinda Creighton probably didn’t account for having this bad a day.
The founder and leader of Renua was eliminated after the fifth count in Dublin Bay South.
Meanwhile, her party looks like it will fail to take a single seat. She vows that’s not the end of the project, however.
Billy Timmins, Renua, Wicklow
Timmins jumped from Fine Gael to Renua, but the gamble hasn’t paid off.
He loses a seat held by his family since 1969 (with a gap between 1987 and 1989) when his father Godfrey took the seat.
Terence Flanagan, Renua, Dublin Bay North
Another who made the jump from Fine Gael to Renua over the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill.
Another who lost their seat.
Peter Mathews, formerly Fine Gael, then Independent, Dublin Rathdown
Peter Mathews revealed he is undergoing treatment for a curable cancer earlier this month. The former Fine Gael TD (now Independent) lost his seat in Dublin Rathdown.
Eamonn Maloney, formerly Labour, then Independent
A former Labour Party TD, he was first elected to South Dublin County Council in 1999. He served as a councillor until he was elected to the Dáil in 2011. He left the Labour Party in September, deciding instead to run as an Independent candidate.
The strategy didn’t work however and he lost his Dublin South-West seat with just 1,722 votes.
Seán Conlon, Cavan-Monaghan
The solicitor lost his seat after being elected to the Dáil in 2011.
A former member of Fine Gael, he left the party in November, citing a disagreement over the North-South electricity interconnector.
He was eliminated on the sixth count in his constituency.
With reporting by Sinéad O’Carroll, Paul Hosford and Cliodhna Russell
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