The pavements have been pounded, doors have been knocked, policies explained and now the 24 candidates must wait and see who the people of Louth choose to represent them in the 34th Dáil.
In two days time polling stations will open and votes will be cast before the arduous process of counting the vote begins in Colaiste Chu Chulainn, Marshes Lower in Dundalk.
A record 24 candidates have been brave enough to put their names forward with eighteen men and six women on the ballot sheet this Friday. Those 24 candidates will be fighting it out for five seats and while nothing is certain what we do know is that we will see at least three new faces elected given the fact Peter Fitzpatrick, TD, Fergus O’Dowd TD and Imelda Munster TD will not be seeking re-election.
Drogheda are well represented with no less than ten candidates living in the town while Dundalk have six candidates who have put their name forward. There are two apiece from Ardee, North Louth and Mid-Louth while the remaining two candidates hail from Derry and Dublin.
So who is most likely to fill the five seats up for grabs? If you were to believe the bookmakers, it would seem that Sinn Fein candidates Joanna Byrne and Ruairí Ó Murchú are all but assured of filling the first two seats. Labour’s Ged Nash looks likely to retain his seat despite the boundary change which has seen some areas of Louth transferred to East Meath following a constituency review by the Electoral Commission last year.
After that it really is all to play for with current Senators Erin McGreehan (FF) and John McGahon (FG) projected to slug it out with Kevin Callan (IND) for the last two seats. Green Party Candidate Marianne Butler, Sinn Fein’s Antoin Watters and Fianna Fáil’s Alison Comyn are also live contenders according to the bookmakers in what promises to be a real dogfight to fill those final seats. Polls and bookmakers predictions have been wide of the mark before and all the other candidates will be looking to upset the apple cart and prove the odds wrong by claiming one of the five seats on offer.
Senator John McGahon had been predicted quite confidently in local political circles to claim a seat in Louth having received 4,442 first preference votes when he first ran in 2020. Recent negative publicity however surrounding his high profile court case in the Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court for assaulting a man outside the Rum House (McGahon was acquitted in 2022 but was found 65% civilly liable by a High Court jury earlier this year) has seen him come back to the chasing pack.
Sinn Féin endured a torrid time nationally in the local elections back in June and have been struggling in the polls all summer after at one stage polling as high as 36% nationally. However, the party similarly struggled in the 2019 local elections before rebounding with a strong showing in the General Election so hopes will be high from party leader Mary Lou McDonald that her party can once again come back strongly this weekend.
Louth has traditionally been a Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael stronghold but that has changed over the past twenty years or so with Sinn Fein becoming the party of choice for Louth voters. Last time out Imelda Munster comfortably topped the poll with an impressive 17,203 first preference votes while her party colleague Ruairí Ó Murchú received 12,491 votes with both candidates elected after the first count. In 2016 it was Gerry Adams who received the most first preference votes with 10,661 while he also received the most votes in Louth in 2011.
Fianná Fáil’s once iron grip of the local electorate has drastically weakened in recent elections with the party failing for the first time ever to get a candidate elected in 2011. That same fate occurred last time out and both Erin McGreehan and Alison Comyn will be determined to ensure that it doesn’t happen for the third time in four elections this weekend.
Immigration has been a big talking point nationally during this campaign and that is reflected via at least four candidates who have made immigration one of their major topics of their campaign. Irish Freedom Party candidate Hermann Kelly and Independents Tracy O’Hanlon, Alan Fagan and Derek McElearney have all voiced major concerns about Ireland’s current immigration policy.
Social Democrats candidate Niall McCraenor and People Before Profit’s James Renaghan have made housing a focal point of their campaigns while Aontu’s Michael O’Dowd has promised to campaign for better services for disabled people if elected. Independent Ireland’s Ryan McKeown is a newcomer to the political scene and the 21 year old has promised to inject energy and life into the Dáil if elected and he has made improving mental health services a key issue of his campaign. Albert Byrne is looking to bring fundamental changes in the work culture of An Garda Siochána if elected while David Bradley says that we need to bring God back into our country to help ourselves get out of the mess it has become.
City Trader David Carroll wants Ireland to be run more like a business and has questioned the expertise of those currently in charge noting that not many of them have any sort of business background. Similarly, former ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ David Brennan believes the country needs a business minded approach to running the country and he believes he has the expertise to work positively for his county.
Thomas Clare, who is running a poster free campaign is a former county councillor who points to his long record in volunteering to the local community as proof that he is willing to work hard for his constituents if elected. Community activist Peter James Nugent says he will be a voice for the LGBTQI community in Louth and will work tirelessly to improve services in the community.
Polling at the General Election will take place this Friday, 29 November 2024. Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm. Bring photographic identification and your polling card otherwise you may not be allowed to vote.
