FG’s Clune first to claim Seanad seat

FORMER Fine Gael TD, Deirdre Clune, returned to national politics after becoming the first candidate to secure one of 60 seats in the Seanad.

The first day of counting in what could be the last election for the upper house also brought some success for Fianna Fáil and the strategy of party leader, Micheál Martin, to replace the old guard with younger Dáil hopefuls.

Ms Clune — who was one of the high-profile casualties in the general election — got 103 out of the 1,065 first-preference votes in the electorate made up of TDs, outgoing senators and local authority members.