2019 Dublin Fingal by-election

A by-election was held in the Dáil Éireann Dublin Fingal constituency in Ireland on Friday, 29 November 2019, to fill the vacancy left by the election of Independents 4 Change TD Clare Daly to the European Parliament.

2019 Dublin Fingal by-election

← 2016 general election 29 November 2019 2020 general election →
Turnout	25,344 (25.6%)
Nominee Joe O'Brien Lorraine Clifford-Lee Duncan Smith Party Green Fianna Fáil Labour First preferences 5,744 4,631 3,821 Percentage 22.9% 18.5% 15.2% Final count 12,315 7,754 -   Mulligan Nominee James Reilly Dean Mulligan Ann Graves Party Fine Gael Inds. 4 Change Sinn Féin First preferences 3,707 2,550 1,327 Percentage 14.8% 10.2% 5.3% Final count - - -   Carey Brady Nominee Tracey Carey Gemma O'Doherty Glenn Brady Party Social Democrats Independent Independent First preferences 1,106 1,026 670 Percentage 4.4% 4.1% 2.7% Final count - - -
TD before election Clare Daly Inds. 4 Change TD Joe O'Brien Green

It was held on the same day as three other by-elections in Cork North-Central, Dublin Mid-West and Wexford.^[1] The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2011 stipulates that a by-election in Ireland must be held within six months of a vacancy occurring.^[2] The by-election writ was moved in the Dáil on 7 November 2019.^[3][4]

At the 2016 general election, the electorate of Dublin Fingal was 93,486, and the constituency elected one Fianna Fáil TD, one Independents 4 Change TD, one Fine Gael TD, one Labour Party TD, and one Sinn Féin TD.^[5]

The election was won by Fingal County Councillor Joe O'Brien of the Green Party. It was the first by-election won by a Green Party candidate. Karen Power was co-opted to O'Brien's seat on Fingal County Council following his election to the Dáil

Among the candidates were 2 Senators Lorraine Clifford-Lee and James Reilly and four Fingal County Councillors Ann Graves, Dean Mulligan, Joe O'Brien and Duncan Smith.

This was the first occasion when by-elections were contested by Independents 4 Change (who also contested Dublin Mid-West) and the Social Democrats (who also contested Cork North-Central and Dublin Mid-West).

Campaign

During the campaign, the Fianna Fáil candidate Lorraine Clifford-Lee was embroiled in controversy when she had to apologise for the language she had used in tweets she had made in 2011, which were derogatory towards the Traveller community.^[6]

Result

2019 Dublin Fingal by-election^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Green	Joe O'Brien	22.9	5,744	5,837	5,965	6,091	6,784	7,984	9,183	12,315
	Fianna Fáil	Lorraine Clifford-Lee	18.5	4,631	4,672	4,766	4,929	5,252	5,648	6,547	7,754
	Labour	Duncan Smith	15.2	3,821	3,866	3,926	4,008	4,347	4,999	6,300
	Fine Gael	James Reilly	14.8	3,707	3,753	3,803	3,882	3,992	4,200
	Inds. 4 Change	Dean Mulligan	10.2	2,550	2,606	2,745	2,909	3,754
	Sinn Féin	Ann Graves	5.3	1,327	1,361	1,402	1,481
	Social Democrats	Tracey Carey	4.4	1,106	1,125	1,214	1,273
	Independent	Gemma O'Doherty	4.1	1,026	1,088	1,149
	Independent	Glenn Brady	2.7	670	726
	Independent	Peadar O'Kelly	1.4	350
	Independent	Charlie Keddy	0.4	112
	Independent	Cormac McKay	0.2	46
Electorate: 99,039   Valid: 25,090   Spoilt: 254 (1.0%)   Quota: 12,546   Turnout: 25,344 (25.6%)

See also

• List of Dáil by-elections
• Dáil constituencies