Sinn Fein's Darren O'Rourke elected on second count
Darren O'Rourke has said there was a "palpable desire for change" on the doorsteps of Meath East after he he was elected on the second count.
The Sinn Féin candidate who secured 10223 first preference votes had always been considered a strong contender to take a seat here and the surge of support towards the party certainly worked in his favour lifting both him and Meath Co Council colleague Johnny Guirke to victory.
On the first count he came in with 10,223 votes just 264 short of the 10,487 quota. His final number on count two was 10, 617
He said:
“Across the board there was a revolution at the ballot box and a huge move towards Sinn Fein.
“I think it reflected what we were seeing on the doors even beyond our own expectations if I'm honest, but it was a real palpable desire for change and I think we are heading into a really exciting time for politics in Ireland.
“We feel like the Irish people have stood up, they are shaking off the shackles and are saying look we want better and we deserve better.
“They see the way things operate in other countries, they wonder why we have to settle for less in Ireland.
“I think today is a great day particularly for those people who are struggling, be it people working in creches, people on hospital trollies or people on housing waiting lists.
“I just feel like when I was at doors my heart broke for those people, their daily trials and the lack of support given to them by the state.
“I think this is a really positive day for Ireland, hopefully we will get a government now that delivers."
It was a very different story for Sinn Fein in last year’s local elections with the party losing five seats over all and reduced to having representation solely in Ashbourne Kells and Navan. O’Rourke points out that people have very different criteria when voting in a general election.
"At a general election people are looking for broader policies, ideas and looking for plans and strategies.
“We had a lot of reflecting to do in terms of our local organisation and our capacity to deliver on the ground but I think there is a fundamental difference between a local election and a general election, people are asking questions they are looking for different things.
"We need to improve on where we are in local government in Meath that’s certainly our ambition, we need to get back at least eight seats we are down to three.
"I’m very comfortable with the position that Mary Lou McDonald has outlined and I agree with her entirely when she says the best outcome we can have is a government that doesn’t involve Fine Fail and Fine Gael and I think that’s what the people have voted for today.
"We are steadfast in our position that we need to be a position to influence a programme for government, we want a republican programme for government and let’s see what way negotiations work out at in next few days.
"We are serious about delivering change on a local and national level.
“I’ve never been more positive or hopeful for the future."