Junior Minister the big casualty in Fine Gael fall

Government Chief Whip Seán Kyne was one of several high-profile Fine Gael casualties around the country who lost their Dáil seats in the 2020 General Election.

Minister of State for the Gaeltacht in the outgoing administration, Kyne suffered from a backlash against the Government and a surge in support for Sinn Féin . . . his supporters conceded that local issues such as plans for a Direct Provision centre in Oughterard, and support for social housing in his political stomping ground of Moycullen, also cost him votes.

Galway West had become a stronghold for the party since winning two seats in 2011 when Fine Gael took 30.4% support and Kyne was first elected a TD alongside Brian Walsh.

In 2016, despite Fine Gael losing seats around the country, Kyne and Hildegarde Naughton bucked the national trend and retained two seats, with 24% support. That was one more seat than Fianna Fáil, even though Fine Gael had a lower percentage share of the vote in Galway West.

When the RTÉ/TG4 exit poll, last Saturday night, put Fine Gael at 22%, the organisation locally still had high hopes of retaining two seats in Galway West. But when the ballot boxes were being opened on Sunday, it quickly became apparent that it was not a matter of if Fine Gael would lose a seat, but which one.

When the votes were counted, Fine Gael enjoyed just 18% support – down six percentage points from 2016 and down twelve percentage points from their record high of 2011.

Naughton, with 5,609 first preference votes, outpolled Kyne (5,284) by 325 on the first count, and maintained a gap – and extended it – right up to the 13th and final count, when she was elected without reaching the quota with 9,519. Kyne, with 7,574 votes, was the last candidate standing not to be elected.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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