Historic night for Sinn Féin in Waterford
An elated Conor McGuinness hugs David Cullinane after the West Waterford councillor's election on the 12th count.
Speaking directly after a triumphant first count election in 2020, Sinn Féin's David Cullinane expressed regret at not standing a second candidate in Waterford.
Four years later, the party acted upon this, selecting Cllr Conor D. McGuinness, who lives in the west Waterford Gaeltacht, to stand with the aim of maintaining a seat for Cullinane, but also garnering an additional place for a voice who can represent the west of the county.
David Cullinane was once again comfortably re-elected on the very first count in Waterford this year, with 11,936 first preference votes.
Speaking to the Waterford News & Star immediately after his election, Cullinane said he felt “humble and proud”, but that he was now looking towards getting running mate McGuinness elected.
"We again had a huge vote for Sinn Féin in Waterford, returned as the largest party again by some considerable distance.
"Obviously I’m very pleased for myself and I want to thank all of those who voted for Sinn Féin, all of our campaign team and the media for their excellent coverage leading up to the election campaign and giving candidates the opportunity to talk about the issues, that’s what elections are about.
“So obviously I’m very pleased that we have won the seat, but my mind now is on Conor McGuinness. It will be a long evening of watching all of the transfers."
With Cullinane's spot amply secured, the fight was now on to build on 2020's result and obtain a second seat for the party.
With Cllr McGuinness receiving 5,791 first preference votes, it appeared apparent from early on that both Mary Butler of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's John Cummins would be elected in the subsequent counts, leaving McGuinness in a closely fought battle with Independent Matt Shanahan for the final seat.
Speaking after his own election, David Cullinane said that it would be a close skirmish between the two.
“I think he (McGuinness) has a great chance, he’s about 400 first preference votes ahead of Matt Shanahan at the moment, I have a surplus of about 1,200 votes and we’re hoping that a lot of those will come Conor’s way and put him very much in contention for that last seat.
"But it is going to be very close, we know that, and I think Matt Shanahan’s campaign know it too, but nobody can predict it, we’ll have to wait and see where all the transfers go.
“We’ll know in a couple of hours but we’re in the hunt, which is a great place to be considering where we were 20 years ago as a party."
McGuinness expressed similarly on day one of the count, saying: “I’ve performed very well according to the tallies, particularly in the county, in the Lismore, Dungarvan and Comeragh LEAs.
"That was our strategy all along; that we’d be asking voters to be voting David Cullinane number one and myself number two in the metropolitan area, and that voters in the county area would vote myself number one and David Cullinane number two.
“We’d be very confident based on the track record of Sinn Féin transfers, that they’d be fairly disciplined. Based on the exit poll last night, there is a very strong transfer preference from Sinn Féin to Sinn Féin candidates, so we’d be very hopeful that would drive me on."
McGuinness incrementally increased his lead against Shanahan, eventually snatching the seat with close to 1,000 more votes than his Independent opposition.
'Oró, Sé Do Bheatha 'Bhaile’ played out around the count centre at SETU as McGuinness and his Sinn Féin counterparts picked up their historic second seat in the Waterford constituency following the 12th count.
Providing reaction immediately after election, Conor McGuinness said that the party has had a historic year in the city and county.
“I’m delighted to have taken the second Sinn Féin seat here in Waterford. We’ve had two very successful elections in Waterford this year. We took a huge vote in the local elections in June and now in this general election we’re returning two Sinn Féin TDs to stand up and advocate for changes our country needs.
“David and I will work together as a team. There's no silliness, rivalries or intrigues, which mars other political parties, we are here for the people of Waterford and we’re there for the change this country needs."
Speaking on the growth of the party in Waterford, McGuinness added: "One in three voters gave their first preference to David or myself and that can’t be overlooked. There’s a significant appetite for change here and indeed people voted for that.
"That now has to be factored into the political imagination that will take place over the coming weeks at national level.
“Today is the culmination of six years of hard work as a local councillor, working full-time, running clinics and being accessible to the public right across West Waterford.
"I want to thank everybody who voted for me and I particularly want to thank my supporters, David Cullinane as my running mate and my family.
“My mam and my aunt have been fantastic in this campaign, they’ve given encouragement and support all my life. Also my wife Pia, without her love and support and indeed her patience we wouldn’t have been able to get this result and I wouldn’t be able to do what I do.”
