Fine Gael’s Neale Richmond was a safe bet to return to the Dáil.

First elected as a Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown councillor in 2009, he became a Senator in 2016, before receiving the second-highest number of first preference votes in the constituency at the 2020 general election after the Green Party’s Catherine Martin.

The 41-year-old had gained a high profile due to his focus on Brexit before holding two separate junior ministerial briefs, most recently in the Department of Finance.

Having studied politics at University College Dublin, he worked for Fine Gael politicians both at the European Parliament and in the Dáil before his own political endeavours.

The Ballinteer native lives in Stepaside with his two children and wife Babs, who works as a teacher.

After Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary’s controversial remarks at a Fine Gael event concerning teachers in the Dáil. Mr Richmond said: “I love teachers so much I married one.”