Byelections 2019: Fine Gael focusing on the positives in Cork North-Central
Agriculture Minister Michael Creed said that Senator Colm Burke's performance shows promising signs for Fine Gael in Cork North-Central.
However, he conceded that a Fianna Fáil victory is all but a certainty today.
Burke secured 21.14% of the tallies, some seven points behind frontrunner Pádraig O'Sullivan.
Mr Creed said that Fine Gael was always facing a battle to win the seat, which was vacated by Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher in May.
"This is Billy Kelleher's seat. It looks like it'll be a Fianna Fáil victory," he said.
From our point of view, Colm has increased the Fine Gael vote in Cork North-Central by over 3% and Fine Gael's seat will be secure in the next General Election.
"In recent history, since the 1980s, governments have won just four of 33 by-elections. This was always going to be an uphill battle."
Mr Creed declined to be drawn on the announcement that Fine Gael's Cork North-Central TD Dara Murphy is set to resign after almost two year's of absence from the Dáil. Mr Murphy has taken another job in Europe and has been heavily criticised for his representation of Cork North-Central in the last two years.
"We will have the post-mortem in due course," Mr Creed said.
"Today is not the day for that."
A first count is expected from Cork North-Central around lunchtime.
