By Dan Walsh
County Wexford will have seven TD’s in the 34th Dáil, which is an unprecedented achievement after three candidates from Wexford have been elected to the new 3-seat Wicklow-Wexford constituency. The official declaration was made at the Count Centre in Kilanerin Community Centre.
Newcomer Brian Brennan (Fine Gael) topped the poll with 10,339 votes and was immediately followed by Cllr Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Sinn Féin) with 10,222 votes. Malcolm Byrne was elected without reaching the quota on 9,156 votes. The only other candidate standing was Pat Kennedy (Fianna Fáil) with a final tally of 6,609.
Poll topper Brian Brennan is a well-known businessman who lives in Gorey but spent most of his working life in Arklow. He ran the family business, The 64 in Gorey and spent nearly 20 years in Arklow as the proprietor of the Arklow Bay Hotel, operating the Brennan Hotel Group and employing over 600 people.
Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin works as a Special Education Teacher in Gaelscoil Moshíológ and Coolgreany National School. He was elected to Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District Council since 2014 and served a term as Leas-Cathaoirleach during the 2023-’24 term.
Malcolm Byrne was first elected to Gorey Town Commissioners in 1999 and served as a councillor until 2019 including a term as Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council. He was elected to Dáil Éireann in November 2019, but lost his seat in the following February General Election and became one of the shortest serving TDs in the history of the State.
WICKLOW-WEXFORD CONSTITUENCY 3 seats 10 candidates. Quota 9,560
BRENNAN, BRIAN (Fine Gael) 10,339 ELECTED
Ó SÚILLEABHÁIN, FIONNTÁN (Sinn Féin) 10,222 ELECTED
BYRNE, MALCOLM (Fianna Fáil) 9,156
KENNEDY, PAT (Fianna Fáil) 6,609
WALSH, ANN (Green Party) ELIMINATED
LEONARD, PIER (Non-Party) ELIMINATED
BOLAND, SINÉAD (Aontú) ELIMINATED
O’KEEFFE, AILEEN (People Before Profit) ELIMINATED
LAWLOR, FRANCES (Independent Ireland) ELIMINATED
NOLAN, IISA-MARIE (Non-Party) ELIMINATED
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