Labour jubilant as Michael D packs his bags for the Park

The people of Meath West voted in line with the rest of the country to elect Labour's Michael D Higgins as the next President of Ireland. The Labour Party in the constituency was jubilant at the result, which saw the veteran politician take 34.10 per cent of the vote. However, there was embarrassment for Fine Gael, with a dismal showing for Gay Mitchell who took just 6.1 per cent of the vote, a far cry from the party's massive 45.9 per cent in Meath West in the general election last February. Michael D Higgins's closest rival, Sean Gallagher, polled strongly around the constituency, taking 33.5 per cent of the vote and polling particularly strongly in the north-west of the constituency. Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness finished third with 14.9 per cent of the vote - down on the party's general election showing when TD Peadar Tóibín took 17.4 per cent. Labour's campaign manager for Meath West, Brian Flanagan, said the fact that Michael D Higgins topped the poll echoed the sentiments they had received on the doorsteps while canvassing. He said the Labour vote in Meath West was growing and it was a particularly good showing in a constituency that does not at the moment have a Labour TD or senator. Cllr Jenny McHugh welcomed Mr Higgins's election and said he would be a President to be proud of. "He is a man of integrity and honesty and he will do us proud," she said. The Mayor of Navan, Cllr Anton McCabe, said the new President was a humanitarian and would enhance Ireland's international reputation and serve the people of Ireland well. Deputy Peadar Toibín of Sinn Fein said he was delighted with Martin McGuinness's vote, which he said was an anti-bailout, anti-austerity, pro-investment vote that had put Irish unity centre stage. "We wanted to grow the party and here in Meath West we polled very well and we are very happy with the result," he said. Deputy Tóibín said it had been a bizarre election campaign that had, at times, looked like a celebrity TV show rather than a political campaign. The 52.5 per cent turnout in Meath West just short of the national average of 56.11 per cent. Michael D Higgins took 34.10 per cent of first preference votes ahead of Gallagher who took 33.5. Martin McGuinness took 14.9 per cent with Mitchell at 6.1 per cent, David Norris on 5.9 per cent, Dana Rosemary Scallon, 2.7 per cent, and Mary Davis on 2.5 per cent. Michael D Higgins garnered votes throughout the constituency, but had a particularly strong showing in places like Trim and Navan, where he topped the poll. Rural areas in the north of the constituency closer to Gallagher's home base, such as Oldcastle and Clonmellon, voted strongly in favour of Gallagher, tallies showed. Sinn Fein also polled particularly well in the urban areas of the constituency. There was a narrow defeat for the referendum on Oireachtas inquiries in Meath West, in line with the rest of the country but the people of Meath West came out in favour of the referendum on cutting judges' pay with 60 per cent of the voters supporting the government proposal. However, they voted against the amendment on Oireachtas inquiries with 53.3 per cent voting 'no'. There were quite a high number of spoiled votes in both referendums, with 663 invalid papers in the judges' pay referendum and 808 in the Oireachtas inquiries vote. Deputy Tóibín, cathaoirleach of the Oireachtas Committee on Investigations, Oversight and Petitions, accused Fine Gael of running a poor campaign on the referendums. "People felt they were being left in the dark and voted no because they simply didn't know what it was about," he claimed. "The government should have made the knowledge available to people and discussed it. "It shows the need to separate out these consitutional questions from presidential and other elections," the Sinn Fein TD added.