Ahern upbeat despite by-election failures

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was upbeat today despite his party failing to win the vacant seats in Meath or North Kildare, saying he was prepared to sacrifice by-elections in order to win the general election.

“It’s always nice to win, but I’m used to losing by-elections,” he said. "The only by-election we’ve won was that summer of 1982 and a few months later we lost the general election, and all the by-elections since then we’ve lost and won the five general elections.

“So if you ask me which affects me the most, I’ll sacrifice by-elections to win general elections.”

Speaking at the official opening of Hill 16 and Nally End terrace at Croke Park, Mr Ahern said Fianna Fáil had known the by-elections were going to be very difficult.

In North Kildare, Independent candidate Catherine Murphy became the first woman elected to represent the constituency in the Dáil.

The 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 McCreevy was not passed on to their new candidate.

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

In Meath, Fine Gael’s Shane McEntee secured a historic victory in his first ever election. Fianna Fáil, who were aiming for a record fourth seat in the constituency, were beaten on first preference votes for the first time since 1927.

A lower than expected 40% voter turnout was blamed for affecting traditional party support for pre-poll favourite Shane Cassells.