Despite Labour’s poor performance in the polls for the second consecutive election, the popular Wexford TD has retained the seat he has held since 1987.
The Labour Party leader, who has experience in two governments, previously served in the health and environment ministries, before taking up the role of minister for public expenditure and Reform between 2011 and 2016.
Over the course of the last Dáil, Brendan Howlin (63) was the party's spokesman on foreign affairs and Northern Ireland.
Howlin was born into a highly-political family and was named after Brendan Corish, a local Labour TD at the time, who later went on to lead the party.
He grew up in Wexford town, was educated locally at Wexford CBS, and later attended St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin,where he qualified as a primary school teacher.
During his career as a teacher he was active in the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) , before embarking on a career in full-time politics.
