Coveney to retain Dáil seat

The newly-elected Fine Gael MEP Simon Coveney said today he would not resign his Dáil seat because there was no public appetite for a by-election.

However the 31-year-old Cork politician said he would resign his front bench position as spokesman on Communications Marine and Natural Resources and would reassess the situation in six months time.

“I will try and run an efficient TD office in Cork and provide people in Cork South Central with a good service. But my priority is to be a good MEP for the people in the Ireland South constituency,” he said.

This is Mr Coveney’s fourth successful election in five and a half years.

He was first elected as a TD in 1997 to replace his late father Hugh Coveney who has served as a minister in the Rainbow Coalition Government.

He narrowly missed the quota of 121,068 last night in the first count for the European South Constituency when he polled 118,937 first preference votes.

He was elected today on the third count with a surplus of 264 votes, which were discarded because they would not affect the destination of the third seat.

Mr Coveney was hoisted into the air by delighted supporters when the result was announced. They began singing: “Here We Go, Here We Go”.

With the other two successful candidates Brian Crowley and Kathy Sinnott, also based in Cork, Mr Coveney dismissed fears that other counties in the constituency would not be represented.

“I said to people in Waterford, Kerry, Tipperary and in Limerick when I was campaigning that I would represent them as well as people in Cork. They will see me in their county over the next five years. I’ve no intention of being just a Cork MEP.”

Mr Coveney said his election as MEP marked a resurgence in Fine Gael’s fortunes in Munster.

“There’s a lot of joy. We took a drubbing in the last election but people in Fine Gael were determined to turn that around and that’s what we’ve done,” he said.