New TD vows to be 'thorn in side' of Govt

The first woman elected to represent north Kildare in the Dáil tonight vowed to be a thorn in the side of the Government.

Independent TD Catherine Murphy said she would work with her non-party colleagues to force the Government to deliver on its promises.

“This sends a very clear message, it’s putting this constituency on the map, there are issues to be sorted out here,” Mrs Murphy said.

The veteran politician, who has worked on local councils for the last two decades, said the problems were obvious yet the action had been slow.

“The entire political establishment has been here, I don’t need to tell them what the issues are but I’m going to be a thorn in their side until they deliver school places, until they deliver public transport and until they deliver the parks and playgrounds,” she said.

“That’s what I expect and that’s what the public expect and that’s what I’m going to keep focusing on. I’m going to be a thorn in their side to make sure they don’t forget that.”

Mrs Murphy, who fought and lost three general elections, put her success down to hard work, experience and staying focused.

She was elected without reaching the quota of 12,657 votes. After five counts at the centre in Naas she secured 12,256 votes.

Today’s result leaves the Government without a single TD in the three-seat north Kildare constituency.

Fianna Fáil are down by around 19% on the last general election. Senior party figures put the poor showing down to the late entry to the campaign by their candidate Áine Brady.

The teacher only joined the election trail three weeks ago.

Party sources also suggested the huge personal vote enjoyed by former finance minister Charlie McCreedy was not passed on to their new candidate.

Mr McCreedy vacated the seat late last year to take up a position as Head of Internal Markets with the European Commission.

Labour party candidate Paddy McNamara was eliminated from the contest after the third count but party leader Pat Rabbitte praised his efforts in the poll.

Mr Rabbitte said his candidate had done a remarkable job in scoring so highly in such a fiercely contested election. “Our vote held up remarkably well in the circumstances,” Mr Rabbitte said.

“Given the fact that Catherine Murphy was a former Labour councillor and a very strong candidate who has fought several general elections I think our vote held up remarkably well here. She (Catherine Murphy) has tried very many times and it’s a just reward for that effort.”

Mr Rabbitte said, however, the low turnout of 36% was a huge disappointment.

A total of eight candidates stood for the seat in north Kildare.

Two independent candidates, Gerry Browne and Seanan O’Coistin, were eliminated on the first count. After count two the Green Party’s JJ Power and Senator Kate Walsh of the Progressive Democrats were eliminated.

The Labour Party’s Paddy McNamara was eliminated on count three followed by Fine Gael’s Darren Scully on count four. Aine Brady and Catherine Murphy were the last two candidates in the race.

The total electorate was 65,080, the valid poll was 25,313 and the quota required to secure election was 12,657.