Aengus Ó Snodaigh of Sinn Féin retained his seat following a lengthy battle with Eric Byrne of Labour. Ó Snodaigh eventually took the seat by 69 votes after a re-check of ballot papers which went on for several hours.
The strength of the Fianna Fáil vote in the constituency was evident from early on with outgoing TDs Seán Ardagh and Michael Mulcahy topping the poll. Ardagh was elected on the first count with 8,286 votes. Mulcahy received 7,439 first-preference votes and was elected on the third count.
Outgoing Labour Party TD Mary Upton polled solidly with 5,987 first preferences and was comfortably re-elected after the ninth count. Dublin South Central had been a "banker" for Fine Gael when MEP Gay Mitchell held a seat in the constituency. This time the party's hopes rested with former Dublin lord mayor Catherine Byrne and candidate Anne Marie Martin. Byrne polled 4,713 first preferences and was eventually elected after the 10th count without reaching the quota. Martin received 2,125 first-preference votes.
Dublin South Central had one of the largest number of candidates at 16, and independent candidates Bríd Smith and Joan Collins got more than 2,000 first-preference votes each.
Former Late Late Show musical director Frank McNamara, who stood for the Progressive Democrats, received 474 votes and was eliminated after the second count.
Following a re-check of ballot papers, the result stood with Ó Snodaigh securing the last seat on the 10th count without reaching the quota.
Overall change: XX
Outgoing TDs
Seán Ardagh FF
Michael Mulcahy FF
Gay Mitchell FG
Mary Upton Lab
Aengus Ó SnodaighSF
