Adams tops poll for SF as FG and Labour benefit from FF implosion

Labour was a big winner as Fianna Fail, in line with the nationwide trend, suffered a meltdown in its vote in the extended Louth/East Meath constituency. Ged Nash won the third seat for the party as Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams grabbed the national headlines by topping the poll, with Fine Gael's Fergus O'Dowd also elected on the first count, and played an important part in his running mate, Peter Fitzpatrick, the Louth GAA manager, being elected at the first attempt to capture two seats for FG for the first time in 57 years in the constituency. Labour returned to the level of support that it commanded in the east Meath area in the Jimmy Tully era (and with Dominic Halligan topping the poll in Meath East) as Fianna Fail failed to win a seat for the first time since the constituency was formed in 1923. Seamus Kirk automatically filled one of the five Louth seats as outgoing Ceann Comhairle. However, with Fianna Fail's Dermot Ahern retiring, the party's two first-time candidates, James Carroll and Declan Breathnach, failed to buck the national trend as they felt the full wrath of the electorate. At an early stage of the counting, there were indications they would hold onto the seat occupied by the outgoing Minister for Justice, but director of elections Pearse O'Hanrahan as good as admitted defeat at lunchtime on Saturday as the count ran for 21 hours at the conference centre at Dundalk Institute of Technology. The fourth elected candidate, Peter Fitzpatrick, missed the final hours of the marathon count on Sunday as he travelled to Wexford to be in charge of Louth for their important National League game, which brought another victory. Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein defied a concerted campaign to detract from his suitability as a TD with his past and criticism of his knowledge of economic matters in the south, to top the poll. He and Fergus O'Dowd, Fine Gael's spokesman on education, both exceeded the quota of 13,864, with 15,072 and 13,980 votes, respectively, out of a total valid poll of 69,319. The total turnout was 70,190 (70.52 per cent) from an electorate of 99,530. O'Dowd's acquiescence and active support for the party's vote management plan led to the party's best result in the constituency in nearly 60 years with two deputies, and is sure to be awarded with a place in the new Cabinet. Labour grew stronger as the day progressed with another newcomer, Mary Moran, the Dundalk-based teacher, building impressively on a first count of 4,546, and splendidly complemented her running mate, going out on the third last count with 6,974. Her transfers brought Nash over the quota and he was elected on the next count with 14,620 votes. The victorious Nash, who won back a seat for Labour, commented that his feat "showed the party can now attract the level of support that it commanded in the past in Meath through Jimmy Tully and Dominic Halligan". He was proud also to follow in the footsteps of highly successful standard bearers in Louth, Roddy Connolly and, more recently, Michael Bell. A significant feature was that Labour "quadrupled its vote in three-and-a-half years since the 2007 election, increasing it from five per cent to 20 per cent of the poll," he pointed out. He also complimented his running mate. "I'm highly impressed by the performance of Mary Moran. "Mary has a very strong future, based on the party's performance and her personal performance," he added.