Wexford

Enniscorthy man John Browne, the outgoing Minister of State at the Department of Marine and Natural Resources, topped the poll…

Enniscorthy man John Browne, the outgoing Minister of State at the Department of Marine and Natural Resources, topped the poll and was elected on the first count.

His Fianna Fáil colleague, Seán Connick of New Ross, a first-time candidate, was elected on the fifth count along with the Labour Party spokesman on justice Brendan Howlin.

Connick (42) succeeds Fianna Fáil TD Tony Dempsey, who decided not to seek a second term. A wheelchair-user, Connick was paralysed after a road accident while cycling when he was aged 13.

Fianna Fáil failed to win the elusive third seat despite a strong showing by solicitor Lisa McDonald, who finished with 8,572 votes on the seventh and final count.

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A major casualty was Fine Gael's spokesman on health, Dr Liam Twomey, who lost the seat he won as an Independent in 2002. However, Fine Gael, which lost the seat to Twomey five years ago, retained its traditional two seats in the constituency following strong performances by outgoing TD Paul Kehoe and newcomer Michael D'Arcy jnr, both based in north Wexford.

D'Arcy (36) is a son of Michael D'Arcy snr who held a Fine Gael seat in Wexford for 25 years before losing out to Twomey in 2002.

The prominent campaigner on clerical sex abuse, Colm O'Gorman, failed to win a Wexford seat for the Progressive Democrats and was eliminated on the third count.

New Ross man John Dwyer of Sinn Féin, who transferred strongly to Howlin after his elimination on the fourth count, did not improve significantly on his first-preference performance of 2002.

Overall change: No change

Outgoing TDs

John Browne FF

Tony Dempsey FF

Paul Kehoe FG

Liam Twomey FG

Brendan Howlin Lab