Former Fianna Fáil TD Bobby Aylward will be returning to the 31st Dáil for the remainder of its term, beating off competition from Fine Gael’s David FitzGerald at the end to win back a seat for his party in the Carlow-Kilkenny By-Election.
Read: Live election blog with all the day’s action
The returning officer called the result just after 2.10am this morning to huge cheers from Aylward and Fianna Fáil campaigners and supporter.
4,897 was the final number of votes between the two front runners, Aylward very much leading from the off when early morning tallies suggested there would be around 4,000 votes between the pair.
Sinn Féin’s Kathleen Funchion claimed third in the overall proceedings, her 16,437 votes to be the decider for the ninth and final count. With almost 10,000 deemed non-transferrable, David FitzGerald picked up an additional 2,757 transfers with Bobby Aylward adding 3,703 bringing him to a final total of 26,529 returning Aylward as elected without reaching quota.
A by-election win it may be but the focus now from Bobby Aylward, David FitzGerald and other main party candidates – including newcomer Patrick McKee with Renua Ireland – seems very much on securing a full term in the 2016 General Election.
Fine Gael’s David FitzGerald tweeted this after his closing speech last night.
Would like to congratulate @bobby_aylward on his win & wish him all the best. I will continue to work hard in my role as cllr for kilkenny.
— David FitzGerald (@davidfitzg) May 24, 2015
Hear more reaction from the KCLR news team and candidates on KCLR Live tomorrow morning from 10am.
