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Fine Gael’s candidate Maria Byrne looks set to be elected on the first count on the Agricultural Panel in the first of two Seanad Éireann byelections.
According to those watching the counting, she has won 118 votes in the first count, which brings her over the quota of 102. It means that the voting pace between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil has held strong, with the Limerick politician also being supported by many members of the Green Party.
Returning officer Martin Groves formally began counting at 11.30am, half an hour after voting closed. The electorate for byelections to the Upper House comprises only sitting Senators and TDs, 228 in all. In total, 202 TDs and Senators voted.
Three candidates are vying for the vacancy on the Agricultural Panel caused by Fine Gael’s Michael D’Arcy. Former senator Ian Marshall, a unionist, is being supported by Sinn Féin, smaller parties and Independents, while the Labour candidate is Kildare councillor Angela Feeney, who is head of culinary arts at Technological University Dublin.
The second panel to be decided is the Industrial and Commercial Panel. Fianna Fáil’s Gerry Horkan, also a former senator, is the front-runner of the four candidates, as he will receive support from Fine Gael and some members of the Green Party parliamentary party. The others are Independent Billy Lawless, Labour’s Ciarán Ahern and Green Party chairperson Hazel Chu who is running as an Independent.
While Ms Chu is not expected to win, there will be much attention on how many votes she wins and whether or not it will have an impact on Mr Horkan.
The first count is expected before lunchtime, Wednesday.
Joint strategy
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have agreed a joint candidate strategy with each party standing just one candidate in the hope of electing both. The two main parties in Government have 108 TDs and Senators and, if the agreement holds, Ms Byrne and Mr Horkan would be re-elected.
A former Dublin councillor, Mr Horkan was the Fianna Fáil spokesman on finance in the Seanad between 2016 and 2020. He narrowly lost out on retaining his seat on the Industrial and Commercial Panel during the 2020 Seanad election.
Ms Byrne from Fine Gael has more than 20 years of political experience, having served as a Limerick councillor and mayor before being elected to Seanad Éireann in 2016. She too missed out in 2020.
Ms Chu’s decision to run as an independent divided the Green Party, with party leader Eamon Ryan wanting his TDs and senators to vote for Coalition candidates in the expectation they would support a Green candidate should another vacancy arise during the lifetime of this Government. Deputy leader Catherine Martin, on the other hand, signed Ms Chu’s nomination papers.
The process involves a secret ballot, so it remains possible that some Coalition TDs and senators may not have voted for the agreed Government candidates.
The two vacancies came about following the resignation of Fine Gael’s Michael D’Arcy to take up a position as chief executive of the Irish Association of Investment Management. Former Sinn Féin senator and Derry mayor Elisha McCallion resigned after it was disclosed she was in receipt of £10,000 (€11,600) in Covid-relief grants under the Small Business Grant scheme in Northern Ireland, for which she was ineligible.