2019 Dublin Mid-West by-election
A by-election was held in the Dáil Éireann Dublin Mid-West constituency in Ireland on Friday, 29 November 2019, to fill the vacancy left by the election of Fine Gael TD Frances Fitzgerald to the European Parliament.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 19,447 (26.6%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Dublin Mid-West shown within County Dublin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It was held on the same day as three other by-elections in Cork North-Central, Dublin Fingal and Wexford.[1] The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2011 stipulates that a by-election in Ireland must be held within six months of a vacancy occurring.[2] The by-election writ was moved in the Dáil on 7 November 2019.[3][4]
At the 2016 general election, the electorate of Dublin Mid-West was 69,388, and the constituency elected one Sinn Féin TD, one Fine Gael TD, one Fianna Fáil TD, and one AAA–PBP TD.[5]
The election was won by South Dublin County Councillor Mark Ward of Sinn Féin. Lisa Colman was co-opted to Ward's seat on South Dublin County Council following his election to the Dáil.
Among the candidates were 7 South Dublin County Councillors; Paul Gogarty, Emer Higgins, Peter Kavanagh, Shane Moynihan, Francis Timmons, Joanna Tuffy and Mark Ward and former South Dublin County Councillor Ruth Nolan.
This was the first occasion when by-elections were contested by Independents 4 Change (who also contested Dublin Fingal) and the Social Democrats (who also contested Cork North-Central and Dublin Fingal).
Result
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||
| Sinn Féin | Mark Ward | 24.0 | 4,622 | 4,729 | 4,812 | 5,228 | 5,426 | 5,616 | 6,293 | 6,652 | 7,669 | |
| Fine Gael | Emer Higgins | 18.6 | 3,576 | 3,603 | 3,703 | 3,748 | 3,959 | 4,362 | 4,583 | 5,287 | 7,144 | |
| Independent | Paul Gogarty | 12.7 | 2,435 | 2,557 | 2,680 | 2,840 | 3,176 | 3,731 | 4,099 | 5,063 | ||
| Fianna Fáil | Shane Moynihan | 11.8 | 2,264 | 2,304 | 2,360 | 2,394 | 2,564 | 2,758 | 2,894 | |||
| Independent | Francis Timmons | 6.8 | 1,299 | 1,365 | 1,410 | 1,590 | 1,807 | 1,929 | ||||
| Labour | Joanna Tuffy | 6.7 | 1,294 | 1,333 | 1,442 | 1,547 | 1,775 | |||||
| Green | Peter Kavanagh | 6.4 | 1,222 | 1,268 | 1,393 | 1,544 | ||||||
| Solidarity–PBP | Kellie Sweeney | 5.1 | 983 | 1,138 | 1,281 | |||||||
| Social Democrats | Anne-Marie McNally | 4.1 | 788 | 845 | ||||||||
| Workers' Party | David Gardiner | 1.6 | 317 | |||||||||
| Inds. 4 Change | Ruth Nolan | 1.4 | 271 | |||||||||
| Independent | Charlie Keddy | 0.5 | 95 | |||||||||
| Independent | Peter Madden | 0.4 | 71 | |||||||||
| Electorate: 73,152 Valid: 19,237 Spoilt: 210 (0.3%) Quota: 9,619 Turnout: 19,447 (26.6%) | ||||||||||||
References
- "Four by-elections likely to take place in November". RTÉ News. 17 September 2019.
- "Electoral (Amendment) Act 2011". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- "Writs moved for four Dáil by-elections". RTÉ News. 7 November 2019.
- "Dáil Éireann debate - Thursday, 7 November 2019: Dublin Mid-West By-election: Issue of Writ". Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
- "Dublin Mid-West – General Election: 26 February 2016". ElectionsIreland.org. 17 September 2019.