How it started ...
Voters in the constituency of Clare have elected four TDs in the General Election 2024, among them two first-time Dáil deputies.
The final lineup of TDs includes two Fianna Fáil, one Sinn Féin and one Fine Gael - in what will be seen as a successful election for both Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin while questions will linger about the Fine Gael candidate strategy.
Fianna Fáil's so-called 'Comeback Kid' Timmy Dooley, from Mountshannon and Tulla, was the first elected in count 13, winning back the seat he lost in 2020 on a total of 13,566 votes.
With a much better vote management strategy this time round, his fellow Fianna Fáil candidate Cathal Crowe, from Meelick, is also heading back to Leinster House on a vote of 12,344 in the 15th count.
He celebrated in song with a large group of local supporters and family, including his three young children.
Time for a song in Clare as newly elected FF TD Cathal Crowe and Ennis Cllr Pat Daly celebrate! pic.twitter.com/FbJzLTeg7A
— RTÉ Clare (@RTEclare) December 1, 2024
With two Fianna Fáil TDs returned, there are high hopes for a ministerial position in Clare if the party returns to government.
But Mr Dooley said he "didn't expect anything" if the party took office again, adding that he would be "prepared for everything".
The final count saw Sinn Féin's Donna McGettigan and Fine Gael's Joe Cooney elected without reaching the quota.
Ms McGettigan said she was delighted to win a seat for Clare's second largest town, Shannon, but also pledged to do her best to represent the west and north of the county with some concerns expressed that all four new TDs are from the east of the county with no local TD in the Ennis, Ennistymon or Kilrush areas.
Ms McGettigan's win sees her take back the seat won four years ago by outgoing TD Violet Anne Wynne, who left the party in 2022 to become an Independent TD.
Her bid to retain her seat as an independent candidate is seen as a major political failure as she was excluded on count three after winning 310 votes compared to 8,987 in 2020 - a 96.55% drop in what may be an all-time record in Irish politics.
Clare's fourth TD is also a first-time Dáil deputy and a reluctant one at that, veteran poll topping Councillor Joe Cooney had to be persuaded to run in a direct intervention by party leader Simon Harris after he insisted publicly that the opportunity came too late in his career.
The 67-year-old builder and former chairperson of Clare GAA will be Fine Gael's only Clare TD.
Initial plans for a one-candidate strategy with Leonora Carey, who was primed to replace her brother, outgoing TD Joe Carey, after he retired on health grounds, were later replaced with a three-candidate strategy as Mr Cooney and Kilrush's Tom Nolan were added in November.
The Clare count saw disappointment for the Carey dynasty in the end as Leonora Carey failed to secure the seat held by her brother and father Donal.
There was disappointment too for the Green Party's deputy leader and outgoing Senator Róisín Garvey as she was excluded on count 15.
Disappointment also came for 14 other candidates on a long ballot paper, including Independent Ireland candidate and former general secretary of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association Eddie Punch alongside Hillary Tonge of the Social Democrats and Aontú's June Dillon.
How it ended ...
