It was a “bloody marvellous feeling” to top the poll in Dublin, newly elected MEP Regina Doherty has said.
She finished ahead of Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews, Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan and Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin as the four were announced as the next European representatives for the constituency.
After her election at the RDS count centre in Dublin, Ms Doherty said: “We’ve had a really renewed sense of energy in the last couple of months.
“And it’s not just because the Taoiseach has it, he has made us all believe in ourselves and instil a new energy so that we go that extra mile.”
Speaking at her side, party leader and Taoiseach Simon Harris said he was “absolutely delighted”, and added: “She has worked so hard, she deserves this, I’m so proud of her and of course she’s going to continue an incredible tradition of Fine Gael people representing Dublin in the European Parliament.”
Also “absolutely delighted” was Fianna Fáil leader and Tánaiste Micheál Martin, who commented: “Tremendous performance by Barry (Andrews), he led from the front, a very positive campaign.”
For his part, Mr Andrews said he was “hugely relieved” as the results came in after 10pm on Tuesday.
“I am very excited to start the work in Brussels. I have a very positive mandate now from the people of Dublin to do the work.”
Ms Boylan admitted that she was “exhausted” but added that she was “absolutely overwhelmed” by the support she received.
While Sinn Féin leadership has acknowledged the elections went worse than expected, Ms Boylan was insistent that the party had a “positive” result – after electing an MEP in Dublin and increasing its representation in local government.
She said: “How is it a bad election when we’re the party that increased its vote? Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael decreased their vote.
“They decreased their number of councillors. We’ve increased our vote, we’ve increased our number of councillors.”
Mr Ó Ríordáin said the result shows that the Labour Party is “back”.
Speaking to reporters at the RDS, he said: “We’re back and we’re going to win even more when the general election comes into focus.”
Party leader Ivana Bacik said Mr Ó Ríordáin’s team ran “a positive, dynamic and energetic” campaign.
Mr Ó Ríordáin overtook radio presenter and Independent Ireland candidate Niall Boylan in the final count which saw the redistribution of Ciarán Cuffe’s votes, after the Green Party candidate became the second MEP in Dublin to lose their seat.
Mr Cuffe’s elimination after the 18th count came one stage after Independents 4 Change candidate Clare Daly exited the race.
Reflecting on the loss of his seat, Mr Cuffe suggested the issue of migration had dominated the European election campaign over concerns about the climate.
He said: “I think we have seen the rise of those voices who don’t feel the state should be involved in helping the most vulnerable and I think I certainly have campaigned all my life to help the most vulnerable in society. I’ll continue to do that and my party will continue to do that.”
Earlier, Ms Daly insisted she had no interest in speaking to the media as she left the Dublin count centre after losing her seat as an MEP.
Several reporters asked Ms Daly to comment as she left the RDS count centre after being eliminated. She declined.
When approached by RTÉ, she said: “You had no interest in talking to me for five years, so I’ve no interest in talking to you.”
