They may not have had a candidate in Laois for the first time in history, but there is a significant gain for Labour in nearby Kildare South with Mark Wall winning a seat for the party.
From Castlemitchell just across the Laois-Kildare border between Stradbally and Athy, Wall took the final seat in what was his third General Election to contest.
Mark’s father Jack was previously a Labour TD in Kildare from 1997 to 2011 as well as being a former Kildare GAA chairman.
Wall’s success comes at the expense of outgoing TD Patricia Ryan, who was elected in 2020 for Sinn Fein but contested as an Independent on this occasion.
She is originally from Ballybrittas but based now in Monasterevin. Having got a massive 10,155 votes in 2020, she garnered just 678 on this occasion in what was an incredible collapse.
Also losing their seat was Independent Cathal Berry, who had used Portarlington as a base for the last election when that was in the Kildare South constituency.
Portarlington returned to Laois on this occasion and Berry’s vote subsequently fell from 5,742 in 2020 to 3,007 this time.
Topping the poll in Kildare South was Fine Gael’s Martin Heydon who has been a Minister for State in the Department of Agriculture.
Sinn Féin’s Shona ní Raghaillaigh took the second seat in Kildare South while Wall overtook Fianna Fáil’s Fiona O’Loughlin for the final seat.
Both O’Loughlin and Wall were outgoing Senators and though O’Loughlin had 800 more first preferences than Wall, the transfer of Chris Pender (Social Democrats) were vital in deciding the issue.
Wall polled strongly in 2016 and 2020 without making it over the line but there is a strong Labour presence around Athy where the party have two councillors (Aoife Breslin and Mark Leigh) and now a TD.
Offaly
Meanwhile, across the other border in Offaly, Fine Gael’s John Clendennen was the breakthrough candidate.
Independent Carol Nolan topped the poll while Fianna Fáil’s Tony McCormack, after a bit of a struggle, was also elected to hold the old Cowen seat.
The final seat was won John Clendennen (Fine Gael) from Kinnity. Owner of the renowned Giltrap’s pub, he has been a councillor since 2009 and regains a Fine Gael seat in Offaly that had previously been held in the part of the county by the likes of Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy, Olwyn Enright and Tom Enright.
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