Social Democrats councillor Daniel Ennis has secured victory in the Dublin Central bye-election after topping the poll throughout the counting process.
The result was confirmed on the ninth count overnight, with Ennis finishing comfortably ahead of Sinn Féin candidate Janice Boylan. Counting is continuing this morning in Galway West, where Independent Ireland councillor Noel Thomas remains narrowly ahead of Fine Gael Senator Sean Kyne.
Ennis ended the count on 12,050 votes after receiving 3,744 transfers from Green Party candidate Janet Horner, who had been eliminated on the eighth count.
Boylan finished in second place with 7,787 votes.
The Social Democrats candidate had maintained a lead from the opening count onwards. On first preferences, Ennis secured 4,903 votes compared to 4,348 for Boylan.
Horner received 2,907 first preference votes, while Independent candidate Gerard Hutch polled 2,817 votes. Fine Gael’s Ray McAdam secured 2,659 votes on the first count.
Fianna Fáil candidate John Stephens received 1,049 first preference votes, accounting for 4.2 per cent of the total vote.
Stephens was eliminated after the second count with 1,120 votes, meaning he failed to reach the threshold required to retain his deposit.
Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central Garry Gannon said the party was “obviously delighted” with the outcome.
Gannon said the result reflected support for both Ennis and the wider direction of the party.
“It is a real endorsement of the type of politics Social Democrats stand for and Daniel too,” he said.
Hutch was eliminated on the seventh count before Horner exited the race one count later.
Turnout in the bye-election was recorded at 43.5%, lower than the 52.3% turnout seen in the 2024 General Election.
Electoral Commission chief Art O’Leary said the reduced turnout figure was partly linked to the removal of approximately 7,000 “redundant entries” from the electoral register in the constituency since 2024.
The bye-election followed the departure of former Fine Gael TD Paschal Donohoe from Irish politics after he accepted a senior position with the World Bank in the United States.