Lahart and Costello on Fianna Fáil ticket in Dublin South-West

Fianna Fáil has re-selected TD John Lahart as their Dáil candidate for Dublin South-West, and has drafted in councillor Teresa Costello as a running mate.

Lahart is looking to make it a hat-trick of successful Dáil runs having been first elected in 2016.

Lahart first came to prominence after topping the poll in 2016 with 14.3% of first preferences before seeing a drop to 8.1% in 2020.

Owing to the 5-seater nature of the constituency, Lahart was able to shed a decent chunk of his previous vote but still hold onto the seat.

In 2020, Fianna Fáil ran two candidates alongside Lahart – former TD Charlie O’Connor and Deirdre O’Donovan – but neither candidate was elected.

Between the three candidates, Fianna Fáil scored 18% of first preferences, which resulted in Lahart shedding nearly half of his 2016 vote.

Having seemingly learned from the misfire of their 2020 gamble, Fianna Fáil has opted to run just two candidates instead of three.

Sinn Féin’s Seán Crowe was the undisputed winner in 2020, getting elected with just shy of 30% of first preferences and his transfers significantly altering the race in favour of People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy.

The pick of Costello as running mate comes off the back of her being elected on the first count in Tallaght Central in June, with her and independent councillor Mick Duff easily securing election.

In fact, just 12 votes separated Duff and Costello with Duff receiving 1938 first preferences and Costello receiving 1926, enough to get them both elected with over 15% of vote share.

Costello increased her share of first preferences from 6.8% in 2019 to 15.2% in 2024.

Lahart joins fellow Dublin South-West TDs – Colm Brophy of Fine Gael, and Noel Francis Duffy of the Greens – in declaring their re-election bids. 

In lieu of an official announcement, it can be ascertained that Crowe and Murphy will also be seeking re-election.

Crumlin, Tempelogue, and Tallaght are the major population hubs of Dublin South-West.

Going by June’s local elections, Fianna Fáil are relatively strong in the area, with the party winning a seat in three of the four constituencies that make up Dublin South-West at a local electoral level.

The aforementioned Costello won a seat in Tallaght Central with ease, narrowly lost out in Tallaght South (the constituency with the worst turnout in Dublin), Emma Murphy was among those elected on the first count in Firhouse-Bohernabreena and Yvonne Collins won a seat in the competitive 7-seater of Rathfarnham-Templeogue.