The Wexford GP who surprised everybody including himself by winning a seat in the general election says he will support any government that delivers for the county.
Dr Liam Twomey was so convinced he would not be elected that he was back on call-out duty on Sunday, the day after the count, having made no arrangements to change his weekend roster.
He intends to continue his medical practice but also plans to stay in politics and not to be a "one-hit wonder", he says.
The man whose seat he effectively took, however, Mr Hugh Byrne, has announced he is quitting politics and hopes to take up employment in his son Jim's auctioneering business. He claimed yesterday he lost because of a vote management strategy designed to get three seats in Wexford for Fianna Fáil.
He had willingly taken part in the strategy and was not bitter, he added.
Both Dr Twomey and Mr Byrne, the Minister of State for the Marine going into the election, said they did not foresee the outcome until the elimination of Sinn Féin's Mr John Dwyer on the fifth count, which provided 1,500 transfers to the Rosslare-based GP.
"I didn't think I was going anywhere before then," said Dr Twomey. Now he is going to the Dáil, and up to yesterday he had not received any approach from Fianna Fáil about his supporting that party in government.
He would remain independent but "at the end of the day I'm a TD for Co Wexford and anybody who delivers for the county will have my support". Most of what he was asking for, he said, was already in published plans like the National Health Strategy and the National Development Plan, but delivery was the issue.
His concerns came under three primary headings: health, infrastructure and waste management. Health issues on his agenda include the "ridiculously low" income thresholds for medical card applicants, the threat to the future of the accident and emergency unit at Wexford General Hospital and the lack of a multi-disciplinary cancer treatment service in the region.
"There are 80 medical beds in Wexford General Hospital and at any one time there are 100 people stuffed into the wards. People should be told either that it's going to stay that way, or there is a genuine attempt to change things."
His concerns on infrastructure include the need for bypasses of New Ross, Enniscorthy and Gorey. On waste management, he was opposed to plans to introduce incineration. He said 19 out of 20 county councillors in Wexford had voted against that form of waste disposal, but their view was being ignored.
Dr Twomey was not a member of the health alliance formed by a number of candidates before the election. He believes, however, that some form of association among the Independent TDs in the Dáil may prove the most effective way of getting results.
His achievement in being elected is underscored by the fact that he spent about €12,000 on the campaign, less than a third of the limit for candidates in five-seat constituencies. He did it with the help of about 40 canvassers and a backroom team of 20.
Mr Byrne, meanwhile, says he is "adamant" about retiring in spite of numerous requests since the weekend for him to remain in politics. He would not run for the Seanad, he said, but conceded that if the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, decided to nominate him to the Upper House, he "would have to consider it".
He had lost his seat despite receiving his "biggest vote ever", and had he succeeded in being elected as one of three Fianna Fáil TDs in Wexford he would have been rewarded with a Cabinet position, he claimed. He had not been promised anything, he told The Irish Times yesterday, but had been "picking up the vibes".