Government parties take both Seanad seats in by-elections

The margin of victories showed that the coalition Government is strong enough to last its five-year term, said Tánaiste Leo Varadkar

Maria Byrne and Gerry Horkan are the newly elected senators to Seanad Éireann. Picture: Maxwells

The Government has taken both seats in the Seanad by-elections, with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar saying that the margin of victories showed that the coalition Government is strong enough to last its five-year term.

Voting in the by-elections for the seats on the agriculture and industrial panels, vacated by the resignations of Fine Gael's Michael D'Arcy and Sinn Féin's Elisha McCallion, took place over recent weeks, with 218 TDs and senators casting ballots.

Limerick-based Fine Gael former senator Maria Byrne took the vacant seat on the Agriculture Panel, taking 118 votes. 

This put her well ahead of another former senator, independent candidate Ian Marshall, who got 69 votes. Mr Marshall is a unionist farmer from Armagh. Labour's Angela Feeney received 15 first preference votes.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that his party did not consider eschewing a voting agreement with Fine Gael in order to vote for Mr Marshall as an attempt to reach out to the unionist community.

'Make a contribution'

"It's an election and there was a desire in the party to put people forward because we believed we have people in the party who can make a contribution," said Mr Martin.

His Fianna Fáil party took the seat on the Industrial and Commercial Panel, with former senator Gerry Horkan taking the seat with 114 votes. 

Green Party chairperson Hazel Chu, whose entry into the race as an independent caused controversy within the party, received 10 votes, while independent Billy Lawless got 52 votes and Labour's Ciarán Ahern received 27 votes.

Mr Varadkar said the margin of Ms Byrne's victory was a boon for the Government and an indication it would last its full term. 

The next national election, he said, would be the local and European elections in 2024.

"I think this Government will go full term," said Mr Varadkar. "There was very good cohesion from the Government parties."