A lovely day in Dublin. And it belonged to the disgracefully well-behaved Social Democrats. Early in the afternoon, outside the entrance to the count centre, there were high hopes for an atypical display of tribal buck-leppin’ when party leader Holly Cairns and her colleagues started fishing out breakables like spectacles and phones from their pockets in advance of their big entrance with winning candidate Daniel Ennis.
An extremely excited welcoming party was waiting to greet them.
They had a lot to cheer about and they did it in terrific good spirits, but without any of the choreographed mayhem sometimes seen at these party political showpieces.
The Soc Dems had pulled off a milestone victory in the Dublin Central byelection, bagging a second seat in a single constituency for the first time and swapping places with political lookalikes Labour to move behind Sinn Féin in the Dáil Opposition pecking order.
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- Dublin Central results - full count data
- Gaway West results - full count data
Election experts scrutinised the tallied ballots and called a winner by midmorning, but it took forever to get the final result. By then, Ennis had enjoyed an extended lap of honour in the RDS and toddled off for a few hours to have his dinner before returning later in the night to hear official confirmation that he is now a TD.
At this stage, the heavyweight also-rans he defeated had long made their excuses and left.
[ Dublin Central: Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats elected after ninth countOpens in new window ]
As these occasions go, Saturday’s decider was one of the most laid back and relaxed election counts seen in the RDS. Or perhaps the event simply paled in comparison to the last one in Dublin Central, when moneybags gangland criminal Gerry Hutch basked in the centre of a mortifying media scrum, swaggering around the RDS trying to find the count he almost won before scuttling off to the luxury confines of a nearby five-star hotel.
He was in this election, too – living proof that sequels are seldom as good as the original.
Would he turn up again? If nothing else, it would relieve the tedium. We were told some of “his people” were in the count centre. Perhaps waiting to tip him off if the crowd in the cavernous hall ever got big enough to satisfy his ego.
That was never going to happen.
Sinn Féin’s Janice Boylan was the closest contender Ennis faced, but with him ahead on the first count and certain to mop up far more transfers, party leader Mary Lou McDonald’s hopes of bringing in a second TD in her home constituency all but evaporated. Yes, it was numerically possible, but the downcast demeanour of party workers told the true story.
Not great news for Mary Lou, who was administered a double dose of the byelection blues on Saturday. She spent the early part of the day in Galway, trying to put a gloss on Mark Lohan’s abysmal showing before returning to base and valiantly attempting do the same for Janice.
Sinn Féin’s vote took a hit from Hutch, who polled strongly but not as well as last time out.
Meanwhile, Independent councillor Malachy Steenson, a leading anti-immigrant activist, saw his vote double along with his chances of taking a seat in the next general election.
He argued he could have been successful this time if Hutch’s vote hadn’t scuppered his chances, calling out the media for making a celebrity out of a criminal and giving him far too much coverage. Steenson, who would have very little in common with the main parties, was echoing a valid point made by many of their representatives on Saturday.
If Sinn Féin was seen as having come out worst from this byelection, it was only because the other two big parties knew they hadn’t a hope to begin with.
It was this reality which got Mary Lou through the difficult questions with a defence best described as: “If you think we were bad, just look at the absolute state of them in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.”
Do we have to?
Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien was given the job of explaining Fianna Fáil’s dismal showing. He fronted up after lunch, like a man without a care in the world, because nothing he had to say would matter. He stood with John “Wat’s-his-name-again?” Stephens who seemed like a lovely chap and was bravely standing on his dignity because he had lost his deposit.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it ... Very positive campaign ... We knocked on every door in the constituency ...” said Darragh, in mitigation.
“Twelve-and-a-half thousand steps daily,” chirruped John. “Three new pairs of shoes ...”
Fine Gael could only muster a Minister of State to accompany its failed candidate, south Co Dublin rugby head Neale Richmond. Unlike Darragh, who wore a bemused smile throughout his RDS ordeal, Neale looked rather grumpy.
This might have been because Leinster were being hockeyed by Bordeaux-Bègles in the Champions Cup final, although Neale had probably left for the RDS before the carnage proper. We understand his mates had a table booked in a nearby rugby-themed bar.
Ray McAdam, the Lord Mayor of Dublin and Fine Gael candidate, was not as upbeat as Stephens. He railed about “the challenge of incumbency”, which is either something to do with laziness or a book by Fintan O’Toole.
“We have to show the centre ground can hold,” added Ray. At least Neale could agree on this, although he would soon discover that it didn’t for Leinster.
Meanwhile, the Greens were in great form. Leader Roderic O’Gorman was thrilled with Janet Horner’s performance. She ran a great campaign, finishing in third place.
And then it was all about Daniel Ennis.
“Very enthusiastic, he lights up the doorstep and he’s very easy to canvass with,” said Catherine Murphy, former co-leader of the Social Democrats, who arrived early to enjoy a special day for the party she cofounded in 2015. Róisín Shortall, another former co-leader before Holly Cairns took over, also joined in the celebrations.
Dan – a true-blue Dub from the North Strand in the heart of Dublin Central. That’s two true blues in Dublin Central, with Gary Gannon, the son of a market trader, already in situ. A bit of a conundrum for some of their opponents, who would be far happier taking pot shots at a more middle-class type of Social Democrat.
“It’s still a bit mad,” exhaled Dan as he walked into the spotlight surrounded by supporters as photographers and reporters closed in. “But I’m taking it in my stride.”
He said he’s in politics for the “right reasons” and believes in honesty, decency, hope and inclusion.
“People want a change, but they want a positive change.”
The whole thing “felt emotional”, said Cairns, looking positively radiant.
The scenes projected an attractive picture for floating voters, particularly young ones, and the Soc Dems’ latest TD, on Saturday’s showing, will do the party no harm. Although, as his parliamentary party colleague Eoin Hayes stood beside him in the political doughnut as they celebrated for the camera, a woman bystander remarked: “Great, another bald man elected to the Dáil.”
That would never be said of the well-thatched Gerry Hutch. Rumours about his arrival at the count centre intensified as the night wore on. The husband of Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins, who has a nice head of curls, caused untold excitement among members of the media waiting outside as he innocently made his way to the count. It seems “contacts” in the Hutch camp were acting the maggot and dropping hints to journalists about an arrival at around 9pm.
But the Monk did a bunk. Apart from the few journalists and camera crews, most of the people remaining would probably have ignored him and that would never do.
Daniel Ennis was finally elected after midnight. A former League of Ireland footballer, and now a former councillor, he’s a big lad. Would he be lifted shoulder high when deemed elected?
Eh, no chance.
One elevation was quite enough.
