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There have been big election results before – but this one is like never before.
The people wanted change and they voted accordingly and emphatically.
Sinn Fein’s biggest day and best ever electoral performance has led to Brian Stanley’s finest hour.
After getting 2,600 votes on his first attempt in 2002 and 3,656 in 2007 when he also lost out, he polled over 8,000 in both 2011 and 2016 when winning a seat.
This time he topped the poll, was elected on the first count and pulled in over 16,500 first preference votes with a whopping surplus of over 5,000.
The biggest loser of this election was Fine Gael’s Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy who is set to lose her seat after nine years in the Dail.
But it wasn’t an overly good day for Fianna Fail or Fine Gael with Sean Fleming, Barry Cowen and Sean Fleming all losing votes. They’ll be elected but they’re not going back to Leinster House in any great style.
The biggest winner then in that context then is Carol Nolan who leads the way for the fifth seat.
In a special edition of our Talking Politics podcast, recorded from the count centre in Portlaoise, presenter Steven Miller is joined by John Whelan to look over the 2020 General Election.
SEE ALSO – Keep up to date with all the coverage from the count centre on the LaoisToday Live Blog
