THERE were a number of high-profile losers in this year’s General Election which saw some well-known names on the Southside take a tumble.
Among them was the outgoing Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross who lost his seat in Dublin Rathdown.
He was excluded on the fifth count in the constituency after Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin topped the poll.
Speaking on Newstalk, he said it was not a time for regret, but a time to congratulate those who had been successful.
"There has obviously been a huge appetite for change,” he said. "I hope [the elected candidates] make a really successful government and bring about the change that is necessary."
Running in the Dún Laoghaire constituency, another big name that failed to make the grade was Mary Mitchell O’Connor, who finished just under 500 votes behind Fianna Fáil’s Cormac Devlin.
People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett, Fine Gael’s Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and the Green Party’s Ossian Smyth took the other three seats in the constituency.
On Twitter, the former minister said she wanted to thank “all the people who opened their doors to me, all who discussed their concerns and hopes with me”.
Fine Gael's Eoghan Murphy kept his seat in Dublin Bay-South where his party colleague, Kate O'Connell, lost hers. The outgoing housing minister joined Sinn Féin's Chris Andrews, Fianna Fáil's Jim O'Callaghan and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan who was the first to be elected.
In Dublin Mid-West Sinn Fein’s Eoin Ó Broin and Mark Ward were both elected alongside Emer Higgins (FG) and Gino Kenny (S-PBP) but at the cost of some other big names, like those of John Curran (FF) and Paul Gogarty (Ind).
Other high-profile losses occurred in Dublin South-West where Sean Crowe (SF), Paul Murphy (S-PBP), Colm Brophy (FG), Francis Noel Duffy (GP) and John Lahart (FF) were elected while Katherine Zappone (Ind) and Charlie O'Connor (FF) were eliminated.
In Dublin South-Central, the long-serving TD, Aengus Ó Snodaigh (SF), was elected alongside Bríd Smith (S-PBP), Patrick Costello (GP) and Joan Collins were elected while Catherine Byrne (FG) and Catherine Ardagh (FF) were also eliminated.
