Eugene Murphy is the only major surprise of the general election result in the Roscommon-Galway constituency. From Scramogue near Strokestown in Co Roscommon, he was something of a reluctant choice for the party last December in one of its last conventions. Fianna Fáil had been thrown into disarray there following its failure to win the 2014 byelection which followed Luke “Ming” Flanagan’s success in winning a seat in the European elections earlier that year. To add to its confusion, the unsuccessful Fianna Fáil candidate Ivan Connaughton said he would not stand for the party again as long as Micheál Martin was leader.
IN THIS SECTION
Ruben Amorim begins the task of weaving mainly average United players into a cohessive unit
Olivia O’Leary: There’s an air of autocracy about some of Sinn Féin’s recent pronouncements
Dublin riots, one year on: The man filmed himself spitting on election posters and calling woman candidates ‘slags’
There’s one question which none of the political parties want to answer
How Nikita Hand won her battle against Conor McGregor
Inside Politics
Our politics team's behind-the-scenes take on events of the day. Running five days a week during Election 2024