At first glance, the Galway West and Dublin Central by-elections appeared to see a significant electoral surge for the smaller Leftwing parties. In reality, the figures seem to indicate that they did not attract any new voters they didn’t have before, and that the Government’s traditional support base simply stayed home.
Social Democrats’ candidate Daniel Ennis managed to steal a seat from Fine Gael with ease inDublin Central – and while Galway West saw Fine Gael’s Sean Kyne ultimately prevailing after a tight race against Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas, Labour’s Helen Ogbu significantly overperformed compared to many people’s expectations, finishing a very respectable third. Not too shabby for a small opposition party.
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