EDITORIAL: Historic two-seat victory for Sinn Féin in Waterford, Fine Gael in from cold

The Waterford Constituency can now return to European City of Christmas mode, with all four of its Dáil seats filled.

There was much drama at the count centre at SETU’s Cork Road campus right until the bitter end on Sunday evening, as Social Democrat Cllr Mary Roche’s transfers were counted.

It would ultimately result in a changing of the political guard, with Sinn Féin now the dominant force in Waterford, taking two seats for the first time in the party’s history in the Déise.

The David Cullinane-Conor D. McGuinness two-candidate strategy paid off, with west Waterford’s Cllr McGuinness proving transfer-friendly on every count to take the fourth seat.

The ‘D.’ McGuinness possibly also played a part – he appeared further up the ballot paper by using the initial of his mother’s maiden name, Davis. David Cullinane, TD, who topped the poll with 11,936 votes, was elected on the first count.

It was not to be for a dejected Matt Shanahan, the outgoing Independent TD, who had campaigned heavily and been particularly vocal in the Dáil on the lack of delivery on key Waterford issues, such as 24/7 cardiac care and the extension of the runway at Waterford Airport.

Fine Gael’s Senator John Cummins has brought his party back into play at national level in Waterford, taking the seat vacated by John Deasy, which Cummins failed to secure in 2020 – the first time in the history of the party that it failed to secure a Waterford representative for Dáil Éireann in a General Election. (There were brief periods following the deaths of Fine Gael TDs that saw subsequent byelection wins for Fianna Fáil).

The party was taking no chances this time out, with a one-candidate strategy, which fared Cummins well. He received 10,376 first-preference votes and was elected on the 9th count following the distribution of outgoing Green Party TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh’s transfers.

It was a special moment for the Cummins family, with John’s father, former Senator Maurice, delighting in his son’s electoral success. Maurice previously contested for Dáil Éireann on three occasions but never broke through to make that transition from the Seanad.

A visibly disappointed Marc Ó Cathasaigh attended the count centre briefly over the weekend, after it became clear from early on that the Green Party’s vote had collapsed in Waterford. The outgoing TD attained only 1,671 first preference votes, just ahead of Labour’s Sadhbh O’Neill, who went out on the 8th count, having taken only 1,500 first preference votes. Labour has also failed to recover the ground it lost in Waterford following the 2016 General Election, and national drubbing, when its last sitting TD, Ciara Conway, failed to retain her seat.

An elated Minister of State Mary Butler, Fianna Fáil, was third across the line on the 10th count, having achieved 9,962 first preference votes, over 3,000 more than she achieved in 2020, also benefitting from a one-candidate strategy.

Her third term elected, she goes into the 34th Dáil with ambitions of the reward of a Senior Ministerial position should Fianna Fáil lead the next government.