Trinity’s Conchuir Ó Raidaigh narrowly misses out in Dublin North-West

Ó Raidaigh fell short of the final seat by just over 1,000 votes

Trinity research assistant and former undergraduate student Conchuir Ó Raidaigh has been eliminated from the race for the last Dáil seat in Dublin North-West, narrowly losing out to Fianna Fáil candidate Paul McAuliffe.

Ó Raidaigh, a member of People Before Profit, received 6,308 votes on the sixth count, falling behind McAuliffe’s 7,403.

Beating out Fine Gael candidate Noel Rock, Ó Raidaigh pulled ahead of McAuliffe after the fifth count with 5491 votes to 5061. However, McAuliffe received the bulk of Rock’s transfers.

In the three-seat constituency, McAuliffe joins Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shorthall, elected on the fourth count with 8,148 votes, and Sinn Féin’s Dessie Ellis, who secured 14,375 votes in the first count, securing the highest number of the constituency’s first preference votes.

Speaking to Trinity News, Ó Raidaigh said: “We’re absolutely delighted with the result. We think it shows a real desire for change in Dublin west and the national poll reflects an even bigger desire for change. The tide is turning, the civil war is over, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have taken a beating.”

“We’ll be here, fighting on the issues that fought the desire for change in this election,” Ó Raidaigh said, particularly citing housing and pensions. 

“Absolutely phenomenal first result,” he continued. “We ran the campaign on a shoestring, took the scalp of a sitting Fine Gael TD, and brought the sitting Lord Mayor of Dublin right to the final count. Delighted.”

Ó Raidaigh, who ran under his English-language name Conor Reddy, has been heavily involved in student activism during his time in Trinity, including campaigns for housing, Palestinian-solidarity and workers’ rights. He was formerly treasurer of Trinity People Before Profit and participated in a Dublin-based housing movement Take Back the City in 2018.

Around Dublin, People Before Profit candidates Richard Boyd-Barrett, Bríd Smyth, and Gino Kenny have been returned to the Dáil in Dún Laoghaire, Dublin South-Central and Dublin Mid-West respectively.

In Cork East, final year BESS student James O’Connor was elected to the constituency’s fourth and final seat on Monday morning on the eighth count, where he narrowly beat fellow Fianna Fáil candidate Kevin O’Keefe. O’Connor has been a councillor for Cork City Council since last May.

In Cavan-Monaghan, Trinity student and Green Party candidate Tate Donnelly is still in the race for a seat. Donnelly is the youngest candidate in the country to run in this election.

Around the country, 124 of 160 seats have been filled, with Sinn Féin leading with 37 seats. 

Lauren Boland

Lauren Boland was the Editor of the 67th volume of Trinity News. She is an English Literature and Sociology graduate and previously served as Deputy Editor, News Editor and Assistant News Editor.