Poll defeats ends Collins’s career

INDEPENDENT candidate Kathy Sinnott won her battle with the big political guns yesterday by taking the third seat in the Euro South constituency.

She defeated veteran Fianna Fáil MEP Gerry Collins, who held the seat for 10 years and announced yesterday that he was retiring from politics.

His Fianna Fáil running mate, Brian Crowley, who topped the poll, took the first seat while Fine Gael's Simon Coveney won the second seat.