The candidates and stories to watch out for in the General Election
Rory Hearne will be looking to gain votes as the Social Democrats candidate in Dublin North West.
The General Election formally gets underway on Friday with candidates up and down the country beginning in earnest to canvas the public for the votes they need to send them to Leinster House.
Amid the 43 constituencies, what are the stories and who are the candidates to keep an eye on as the campaign trundles on?
For Fianna Fáil in Louth, trying to get a TD back in the constituency is a major battle.
The party is leaving itself in a difficult position, with no party candidate in what would have previously been it’s main stronghold of Dundalk. It is hoping it will get either Drogheda’s Alison Comyn or Cooley’s Erin McGreehan into the Dáil.
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It is a tall order for Comyn — a former broadcaster and journalist — in particular. Fianna Fáil has not had a TD elected in Drogheda since 1951.
The transfers between the two candidates will be interesting to watch, given that votes cast in either of the two towns tend to stay there and rarely end up crossing the Boyne.
This isn’t the only broadcaster the party is running, with TV personality Gráinne Seoige seeking to retain Eamon Ó Cuiv’s seat in Galway West.
In Dublin North West, a very tight battle will be emerging as candidates scrap it out for just three seats.
One candidate to keep an eye on, however, is far right councillor Gavin Pepper, who took a council seat in the 2024 local elections. What is likely to deal a blow in his chances is the size of the constituency.
Three-seaters are the most competitive, with an expectation that Sinn Féin will handily take one seat. Another seat is likely to go to either Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil, while the last is going to be a dogfight among mostly left-wing candidates.
With Róisín Shortall gone, the attention will be where her votes go and whether it brings new Social Democrats candidate Rory Hearne into contention.
The 2024 general election may also be the time for serious political comebacks, with a number of former TDs who missed out in 2020 attempting to fight their way back into the Dáil.
Among these TDs is Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, a former TD for Longford-Westmeath and junior minister in the Fine Gael minority government, who is hoping that he can make a triumphant return to the Dáil on November 29.
With an extra seat in play this time around and buoyed by taking over 3,700 first-preference votes in June’s local elections in Athlone, Moran will hope that he can again be catapulted back into the Dáil.
However, with Fine Gael pushing for a second seat with Senator Micheál Carrigy, he’ll need to best him in a tight fight for five seats.
Fine Gael will face a headache in Dublin Rathdown, as a former party TD and justice minister is back after almost a decade away from frontline politics.
Alan Shatter is now running as an independent, following on from his campaign seeking to abolish inheritance tax.
Announcing his run, he called for a “political culture that is not ageist, embraces wisdom, values experience and unequivocally rejects racism and anti-semitism”.
Fine Gael sources in the constituency are hopeful that Shatter won’t have as strong a pull given his lengthy time away from politics, as well as his stance on Israel and Gaza potentially turning voters away from him.
‘Fuck you Deputy Stagg, fuck you’.
These are the words of Paul Gogarty, a former Green TD and now independent councillor in South Dublin Council, who is now in the mix to take a seat in Dublin Mid-West.
The constituency has been upgraded to a five seater but will still remain competitive between parties.
While Gogarty isn’t going to top the poll, he will certainly be scrapping to take a final seat, fighting against People Before Profit’s Gino Kenny and Fianna Fáil’s Shane Moynihan.
In Cork North West, there is a slightly unusual situation within Fine Gael’s camp, as former minister Michael Creed is stepping down.
His replacement? His own namesake, councillor Michael Creed, a first cousin of the outgoing TD.
With the same name on the ballot since 1989, the new Creed will hope that it may buoy him slightly and help him get over the line.
In Clare, one candidate to keep your eye on is Senator Róisín Garvey. Installed as the deputy leader of the Green Party a few months ago, Garvey is said to have a strong operation on the ground and is in the hunt for the last seat in the constituency.
In 2020, she took home over 5,000 first preference votes but lost out on transfers, but with Independent Violent-Anne Wynne potentially losing out, it could push her up the list this time around.
In Kerry, one thing to watch is the performance of Fianna Fáil as the party attempts to take two seats in a difficult constituency.
Education Minister Norma Foley is said to be in a strong position in the constituency, with hope that she could peel away some support from the Healy-Raes as well as a struggling Fine Gael.
Killorglin-based publican and All-Ireland winning footballer, Billy O’Shea, is on the ticket for Fine Gael. The party will face difficulties in retaining all of Brendan Griffin’s vote.
There are concerns that Sinn Féin is in trouble in Kerry, despite Pa Daly romping home on the first count with over 15,000 first preferences in 2020.
But Sinn Féin is now going to bet it all in Cavan-Monaghan, where the party will try and take three seats.
Matt Carthy and Cathy Bennett will secure votes in Monaghan, while Pauline Tully will sweep Cavan.
With the retirement of Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys, the party is much better placed to turn two seats into three.
For Fine Gael more broadly, the party is taking a leaf out of the Sinn Féin playbook from 2020, with the party looking likely to run a presidential-style campaign with Simon Harris at the head.
Harris will be hoping that his strong brand and popularity with the electorate will help overcome the fact that the party is losing 18 TDs to retirement
Will a rising Harris tide lift all of Fine Gael’s votes?
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