Following a marathon count Simon Harris of Fine Gael is one of five TDs elected for Wicklow.
The count to fill the five Dáil seats in County Wicklow lasted 41 hours.
For the first time ever, three are from Fine Gael.
Thirteen candidates were eliminated including Dick Roche of Fianna Fáil who was excluded on the thirteenth count. Also eliminated was Independent TD Joe Behan. After 16 counts, Fine Gael's Andrew Doyle made it over the finishing line. Next to be eliminated was Fianna Fáil's Pat Fitzgerald. His transfers helped Fine Gael's Billy Timmins to reach the quota on the seventeenth count. The final three seats were filled by Simon Harris Fine Gael, Anne Ferris Labour and independent Stephen Donnelly after the nineteenth count despite not meeting the quota.
Following his win, Simon Harris said,
As the baby of the Dáil I believe, at 24 years of age, I'm looking forward to bringing a fresh perspective and trying to feed into government new ideas and represent a generation that all too often doesn't have a voice.
Stephen Donnelly, also newly elected, says there is a lot of work to do on the economy, political reform, health service and the education system.
After a marathon count here in Wicklow, Fine Gael are the clear winners.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 1 March 2011. The reporter is Will Goodbody.
