Dublin: Green leader Ryan fails to secure MEP seat in recount

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan failed to secure a seat in the Dublin European constituency after a recount saw Independent Nessa Childers and Fine Gael’s Brian Hayes elected yesterday evening.

Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan was deemed elected shortly before midnight on Sunday after topping the poll. Mr Ryan had called for a recount in the early hours of yesterday morning when he was in fourth place.

He remained in the same position after votes were rechecked: “I’m disappointed obviously but also proud. We did really well in the South, we did really well in the North . . . For us it’s a really energising election campaign and it’s something we can build on.”

He said the party was back and could continue to grow.

Ms Childers benefited hugely from transfers and surged from fifth place on first preferences to take the second seat after the seventh count, when Ms Boylan’s surplus was distributed.

'Difficult circumstances'

Ms Childers's final tally was 73,598 votes. She took 1,185 transfers in the distribution of Ms Boylan's surplus of 1,620 votes. Ms Childers said she felt for Mr Ryan. "You feel for everyone in those circumstances. It's a very difficult circumstance. That's what democracy does," she said.

However, she was very pleased to have a mandate because she was a sitting MEP. She said she would not have to start her work from ground up.

Asked how she felt to have beaten Mr Hayes into third place, she said did not see it that way. “I don’t see it as beating anybody, I never have. I just think, ‘My God I’m glad to have a seat’.”

Mr Hayes took the third seat with a final tally of 73,405, despite predictions he would top the poll. He received a final 88 transfers from Ms Boylan.

He said in circumstances where the party’s vote in Dublin had dropped, taking the seat was an achievement.

When first preferences were announced late on Sunday night, Mr Ryan was in fourth place behind the Fianna Fáil candidate, whose vote he quickly exceeded. He ended up with 72,256 votes, with 347 transfers from Ms Boylan.

As well as the recheck of bundles, there had been a random check of transfers from excluded Socialist Party candidate Paul Murphy to Mr Hayes and from Mr Murphy to Ms Childers, as well as from excluded Fianna Fáil candidate Mary Fitzpatrick to those two candidates.

Quota criteria

Mr Ryan was excluded as the lowest candidate when there was one continuing candidate more than the seats left to be filled, and no remaining surplus, and Ms Childers and Mr Hayes were elected without reaching the quota. The announcement was made shortly before 7pm. There were 45,172 non-transferable votes at the conclusion of the process.

Ms Boylan secured more than 83,000 first-preference votes. A large crowd of Sinn Feín supporters cheered the announcement in the RDS.

Mary Fitzpatrick of Fianna Fáil got 44,283 first preferences but was overtaken on the second count by Mr Ryan, who secured 44,078 first-preference votes.

A total of 35,939 first preferences went to the sitting MEP Ms Childers, followed by Socialist Party MEP Paul Murphy with 29,953 votes.

Emer Costello polled poorly, with 25,961 votes, while People Before Profit’s Bríd Smith got 23,875 first preferences.

Two Direct Democracy Ireland candidates, Raymond Whitehead (3,133 votes) and Tom Darcy (4,022), were eliminated after the first count, along with the Fís Nua’s Damon Wise (1,147) and Independent Jim Tallon (2,244).