How it started ...
After five rounds of results were read out to a silent and tense count centre, the election of all three candidates simultaneously had the Mallow venue reverberating in unashamed celebration.
It was deep into the early hours of Sunday morning before Cork North-West deemed all of its three seats to have been filled on the sixth count, without any candidate reaching the quota.
There was no change to the party outcomes as two Fianna Fáil incumbents - Aindrias Moynihan and Michael Moynihan - were sent back to Dáil Éireann alongside first-time TD Fine Gael's John Paul O'Shea.
Their election came at the expense of Fine Gael councillor and Macroom native Michael Creed, who had sought to win the seat held by his first cousin and former agriculture minister Michael Creed before falling short on the final count.
As the final result became clear, Mr O'Shea’s supporters erupted as the first-time deputy celebrated with family and friends.
Seconds later, the two Moynihans were also held aloft in celebration and carried across the floor of the Mallow GAA complex to celebrate their re-election together.
It's over in Cork NW - three candidates deemed elected on the final count. Aindrias Moynihan (FF) and Michael Moynihan (FF) return to the Dáil alongside new deputy John Paul O’Shea. Three celebrations bounced around the Mallow GAA complex together. pic.twitter.com/dyBhNRyPs8
— RTÉ Cork North-West (@RTEcorkNTHWEST) December 1, 2024
Throughout the campaign, the discussion focused on the impact of a boundary change that saw the large urban centre of Ballincollig move out of the constituency.
And this shift proved decisive.
The population balance tipped slightly towards the north of the constituency and the result followed suit, seeing two seats go to candidates from the north of the constituency.
Following the first count, more than two-thirds of the vote was divided among four candidates, two each from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
A familiar pattern that has seen the three seats held by the Civil War parties since the constituency came into its current form in 1981.
The four front-runners all pulled in close to 17% of the vote and pulled in transfers at similar rates - tempering the mood as there was never a guaranteed winner.
Sinn Féin entered the race this time having opted not to run a candidate in 2020.
Its candidate, Nicole Ryan, had a decent first preference share but it was short of what it required.
The Aontú vote from 2020 held firm for Becky Kealy despite Sinn Féin joining the fight, but it was a long way short of what is required to compete in a three-seat constituency.
From early on Saturday a superb Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil tally run by Donal Collins mapped out a clear picture of how the race would unfold.
Mr Creed had faith in the tally predicting early on that he would fall a few hundred votes short and offered an early concession.
This was how it ultimately transpired.
Ironically, after a key moment in the campaign saw Fine Gael leader Simon Harris come unstuck following a tetchy response to a voter in a Kanturk shopping centre, the hinterlands of Kanturk and north Cork returned two candidates of the outgoing government.
How it ended ...
