Fianna Fáil emerges as largest party of local government as European election sees high-profile exits

Counts in the local elections were on the verge of a final conclusion last night, leaving Fianna Fáil marginally ahead on seats with Fine Gael winning just slightly more votes.

With only one count left to conclude in Kildare, Fianna Fáil emerged as the largest party of local government with 246 seats. Fine Gael were trailing them by only one seat, with 245 seats won.

In the European elections, Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews was elected in Dublin alongside Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty, Sinn Féin Senator Lynn Boylan and Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin.

Mr Ó Ríordáin took the fourth seat after Independent candidate Niall Boylan was eliminated.

Elsewhere there were exits. Green Party MEP Ciarán Cuffe and Independent Dublin MEP Clare Daly departed the political stage, having both lost their seats in the European Parliament.

Daly’s close ally Mick Wallace is still in contention for a seat in Ireland South, where the count is proceeding much more slowly.

Ms Daly has been a controversial figure in the parliament, frequently taking anti-EU positions, leading to claims that she is pro-Russia, accusations she denied.

She left the RDS after her elimination yesterday refusing to speak to journalists, saying they had not been interested in speaking to her for five years. In fact, she has often declined to answer questions from The Irish Times and other media outlets.

Mr Wallace, however, is still in the fight for a seat in the tightly contested count in the Ireland South constituency. Ms Daly is his substitute, meaning if he were elected, and unable at any stage to take his seat, she would return to the parliament. She nominated Mr Wallace as her substitute.

In Limerick, independent candidate John Moran became the country’s first directly elected mayor, holding off the challenge of other independents and all the political parties.

Mr Moran, a former lawyer, finance executive and juice bar operator, served as the top civil servant in the Department of Finance for two years during the bailout period over a decade ago. He will assume some executive powers and become the figurehead and chief spokesman for Limerick and its local authority.

Last night he said that “the system of Government in Ireland needs to change to re-establish democracy”. He said the role would not be about “politics that only speaks to a small group of people” but rather about bringing communities together.

“This was the closest you’ll ever get in an Irish election to a job interview.”

The count in Midlands-North-West was also proceeding yesterday.

Political leaders returned to Leinster House, where Ministers continued to insist that there were no plans for an early election. There was a row in the Dáil when the Government pushed through a guillotine on the mammoth planning bill, which will bring months of discussion on the bill to an end today. A spokesman denied that the Government was clearing the decks in preparation for an election.

Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke said: “Our job is to provide stable Government. Governments are elected to do a five-year mandate and that’s what we’re endeavouring to do.”

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath repeatedly said that the plan remains to hold the budget in October when asked if there were any preparations in Department of Finance to move it forward to September to facilitate an early election.

He said: “We are planning on the basis of a budget being introduced in the normal time frame in the month of October” and the focus now is on the Summer Economic Statement due in July.

The Green Party has been publicly resistant to the prospects of an early election.

Minister of State Pippa Hackett said on Tuesday: “All three leaders have expressed desire to run full term. We’ve worked well together as a Government through some challenging issues, and hope to continue that work.”

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty said there was “no question” within Sinn Féin over Mary Lou McDonald’s leadership of the party. It comes after The Irish Times revealed that there is growing unease among the party about Ms McDonald’s position following the party’s performance in the local and European elections.

Asked if he was interested in becoming the next leader of Sinn Féin, he said: “No.”

Mr Doherty was speaking to reporters at the TF Royal Hotel, where, earlier, one of Sinn Féin’s European Parliament candidates, Michelle Gildernew, admitted that she was “resigned” to not winning a seat in the Midlands-North-West constituency.