More than half the seats for the forthcoming 34th Dáil have been filled, and plenty of big names have lost out. Here’s seven stories to watch or know as we head into night two.
Before we get going, let’s just get the 'but it’s all about the transfers, so who really knows’ qualifier bit out of the way already, because it could be all over this one.
1) A Green wilt concludes
The Green Party won 12 seats in 2020, and all except former leader Eamon Ryan contested this election.
Party leader Roderic O’Gorman was the sole Green to manage to stand tall through it. He will be alone in the forthcoming Dáil.
To rub salt in the wounds, former Green TD Paul Gogarty has been elected in Dublin Mid-West as an Independent.
Read more: Count data shows huge scale of transfers between FF and FG
2) Vote share versus solid seats and the world of PR-STV
Aontú made the biggest gain this election in terms of national vote share, increasing to almost 4%.
The Social Democrats also increased their first preference vote share from 2.9% to 4.8%.
Aontú ran 43 candidates, and the Soc Dems ran 26.
Yet by Sunday evening, the Soc Dems had nine confirmed seats, while Aontú had two, and the rest of the count is travelling in the same direction.
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Why? A big part of Aontú extra votes have gone to party leader Peadar Tóibín, who easily regained his seat in Meath West.
The rest of the party’s gains are dispersed all across the country, with only Paul Lawless in Mayo converting it into a seat.
By comparison, the Social Democrats got a not-wildly-dissimilar number of actual votes, but it went to fewer candidates. Insert reference to transfers here.
Such are the travails and wonders of the PR-STV electoral system.
3) From medals to mandates
It wouldn't be an Irish election without a few sports stars vying for seats.
Both had recent strong showing the in local elections but neither former MMA fighter Cllr Paddy Holohan nor ex-international boxer Cllr Philip Sutcliffe managed to land a knockout blow in their respective constituencies of Dublin South-West and Dublin South-Central.
However, the GAA pitch-to-Dáil pipeline remains operational. Fine Gael TD and former Mayo footballer Alan Dillon never lifted Sam Maguire in his county’s green and red, but he's celebrating tonight after comfortably retaining his seat.
The aforementioned Aontú’s Paul Lawless also played football for Mayo, lining out with their junior side in the past.
Another from the GAA tradition is Peter 'Chap' Cleere, a former Kilkenny hurling panelist and Leinster title-winning county camogie manager. Carlow-Kilkenny is too close to call at this stage - insert transfers reference, again.
4) Here come the girls. Or maybe not?
In the outgoing Dáil, there were 37 women TDs out of 160, making up 23% of the seat-holders and the highest percentage of female TDs in the history of the State.
That figure was good enough to place Ireland at 89th in the world in terms of elected female representation, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a global organisation that promotes dialogue and cooperation among the world's parliaments.
In the nearly five years since the last General Election, other countries have moved up the league table, which has seen Ireland slip outside the top 100.
We’re currently just below Mauritania, but - ahem - insert the qualifier here too.
At the time of writing, one in five TDs elected are women. They will add their names to those of the 131 women have been members of the Dáil since the foundation of the State... and the 1,214 men.
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5) All I want for Christmas...
December is now upon us and the trees are going up, but if you have a government on your Christmas list, you might be disappointed.
Speaking after being elected in Dublin Central, Fine Gael’s outgoing Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said there was "a lot of work to do" before and after the Dáil next sits - on 18 December - and that "it will take time" to pull together a coalition.
Yesterday, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin gave off similar vibes.
Bah humbug?
6) I’m seeing double here! Four Eoin O’Broins!
I'm seeing double - four Eoin Ó Broins!@EoinOBroin @CllrEoinOBroin #dubmw #dmw #dubmidw #ge24 pic.twitter.com/4LQXdA7RST
— Conor Wilson (@ConorWilson) November 30, 2024
Two candidates with the exact same name were in the mix in the Dublin Mid-West. Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin topped the poll while Eoin Ó Broin of Social Democrats lost out.
In the stumbling final hours of a three-day shift, the takeaway staff have a question for our dear readers (having prepped this section of the piece in case the election of both came to pass, which would have made it more relevant).
Would the election of two people with the same name to the same constituency have been a first? Send your answers on a postcard.
Patrick Hogan of Cumann na nGaedheal served in the Dáil at the same time as Patrick Hogan of the Farmers Party back in the 1920s and 30s, but unlike Mssrs Ó Broins they didn’t have to run against each other.
7) A concluding takeaway tip for the nation’s party strategists
And a final takeway, especially for any party strategists reading.
In Wexford, Aontú’s Jim Codd was caught on the ninth count, when he got reeled in by his Wexford rivals.
The Lyons share of the vote didn't go the way of Dublin City Councillor John Lyons in Dublin Bay North.
Outgoing Fianna Fáil Minister of State for Disability Anne Rabbitte got snared in the hunt for a seat in Galway East.
In fact, of the candidates with vaguely zoological names, only those from the sub-category of ornithology were elected. Leinster House will have two returning Crowes: Sinn Féin’s Sean in Dublin South-West, and Fianna Fail’s Cathal in Clare.
So, it might be time to get scouring through party membership lists for Birds, Larkins, Peacocks.
Sadly the Greens may rue not running their Dublin City Councillor Michael Pidgeon, but it's more likely they have bigger fish to fry.
