Bernard Durkan TD (74) is Kildare North's longest-serving parliamentarian, first elected on behalf of Fine Gael in 1981. Though unseated in February 1982, he has served continuously since November 1982. He first took public office 43 years ago when elected to Kildare County Council. Though he topped the poll in 2011, it took until the ninth and final count to return him in 2016. This has been his 12th consecutive general election win, and he is second-most elected Irish politician after Éamon de Valera.