1997: FF 41.88%; FG 36.92%; Lab 6.52%; PD 2.37%; GP 1.95%; SF 3.53%; DL 1.41%; CS 1.82%; Others 3.61%.Outgoing TDs: Noel Dempsey, Mary Wallace and Johnny Brady (FF), John Bruton and John Farrelly (FG).
Fianna Fáil has to hold the three seats won here in 1997, following superb vote management. But will the vote achieved by the anti-incinerator candidate, Pat O'Brien, upset the party's mathematics? Could the second Fine Gael outgoing TD, John Farrelly, be vulnerable to Labour's Peter Ward, or former Labour TD Brian Fitzgerald, now an Independent? John Bruton was the highest vote-getter in the State last time. If his support drops now, Farrelly will receive fewer transfers. Sinn Féin's Navan-based councillor, Joe O'Reilly, will be hoping to improve on his 2,000 first preferences in 1997. A new factor here is Meath's burgeoning commuter population. How will they vote? Early results from electronic voting, due overnight, should answer all these questions.
