{"id":465011,"date":"2026-05-24T16:37:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T16:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/465011\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T16:37:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T16:37:12","slug":"gap-between-thomas-and-kyne-narrows-after-transfers-from-eliminated-ff-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/465011\/","title":{"rendered":"Gap between Thomas and Kyne narrows after transfers from eliminated FF candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fine Gael senator Se\u00e1n Kyne has narrowed the gap between him and Independent Ireland\u2019s Noel Thomas after transfers from the eliminated Fianna F\u00e1il candidate.<\/p>\n

Thomas had extended his lead over Kyne by 2,000 votes earlier on Sunday by the seventh and eighth count, after topping the poll with 10,007 first preference votes, followed closely by Kyne on 9,647.<\/p>\n

When Fianna F\u00e1il councillor Cillian Keane\u2019s 5,154 votes were distributed, it narrowed the gap between Thomas and Kyne by 325.<\/p>\n

The remaining candidates, the Social Democrats\u2019 M\u00edde Nic Fhionnlaoich and the Labour party\u2019s Helen Ogbu, are expected to leapfrog Kyne ahead of Thomas.<\/p>\n

Thomas is a former Fianna F\u00e1il representative who left the party in 2024 after stating Ireland should stop accepting asylum-seekers because \u201cthe inn is full\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"NoelNoel Thomas of Independent Ireland is hoping to stay ahead in Galway West (Niall Carson\/PA)<\/p>\n

Earlier, Leader of Independent Ireland Michael Collins said Thomas had achieved an \u201cincredible\u201d first preference vote and that transfers from Ogbu and Keane would be crucial.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really down to transfers now,\u201d Collins told RT\u00c9\u2019s The Week In Politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing honest, the biggest amount of votes are going to be the Fianna F\u00e1il candidate\u2019s votes and the Labour candidate\u2019s votes, and at this stage they look to us from what we\u2019re reading as if they\u2019re falling towards the Fine Gael candidate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks to me as if the pact between Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il \u2013 who, to me, are the one party now \u2013 is working out in their favour, and all are transferring very freely towards Fine Gael. That\u2019s being honest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to lead any listeners astray, but in saying that, you know, if we can get a sizeable lead before we end up with those transfers, then that might put us in a strong position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fine Gael director of elections, Minister Peter Burke, said Kyne had fought a \u201cstrong\u201d campaign and people \u201cchose the politics of buildings solutions as opposed to the politics of anger\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very strong election for Fine Gael as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday, more people voted for Fine Gael across both byelections than any other political party,\u201d he told RT\u00c9 on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives us an opportunity to be even more restless to make more progress for the Irish people in the months and years ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GalwayGalway West by-election candidate M\u00edde Nic Fhionnlaoich greeting Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns at the count centre in Galway Lawn Tennis Club as counting continues in the Galway West by-election. Photo: PA<\/p>\n

Speaking in Galway on Sunday, Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has said she is not normally emotional but the byelection results feel \u201cmonumental\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said their Galway West candidate M\u00edde Nic Fhionnlaoich\u2019s campaign was \u201csuch a success\u201d as they almost doubled their vote share and she is on track to finish in fourth position.<\/p>\n

She says she believes the party can take a seat in Galway West in the next general election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re really well positioned in Galway West going forward and we\u2019re all just so proud of M\u00edde,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"HeadshotSocial Democrat Daniel Ennis took a seat in Dublin Central (Conor O Mearain\/PA)<\/p>\n

The counting of votes at the count centre at Galway Lawn Tennis Club resumed from 9am on Saturday as Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns hailed a \u201cstunning\u201d result for her party in Dublin Central.<\/p>\n

Children\u2019s football coach and father-of-two Daniel Ennis took a second seat for the party in the four-seat constituency \u2013 the constituency of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald.<\/p>\n

It is the first time the 10-year-old party has had two seats in a single constituency.<\/p>\n

Ennis hugged his fiancee Chloe as supporters chanted \u201cDanny\u201d after the result was declared after midnight in the RDS.<\/p>\n

He thanked those who put their trust in him and said he \u201cwon\u2019t let them down\u201d.<\/p>\n

The by-election results have left parties examining their performances, particularly Fianna F\u00e1il and Sinn F\u00e9in.<\/p>\n

Senior Fianna F\u00e1il figures have admitted to poor results in Dublin Central, though are more hopeful about their showing in Galway West.<\/p>\n

\"HollySocial Democrats leader Holly Cairns hailed the \u2018stunning\u2019 result for party candidate Daniel Ennis (Niall Carson\/PA)<\/p>\n

Their candidate John Stephens polled at 4% in Dublin Central, while new councillor Cillian Keane got 8.8% in Galway West.<\/p>\n

The party used to hold three out of five seats in Galway West, the constituency of \u00c9amon \u00d3 Cu\u00edv who is the grandson of Fianna F\u00e1il founder, former taoiseach and Irish president Eamon de Valera.<\/p>\n

Taoiseach and Fianna F\u00e1il leader Miche\u00e1l Martin said it was a \u201cpoor result\u201d in Dublin Central, and that his party has \u201creal problems\u201d with \u201csome constituencies\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe would have preferred a higher percentage outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald, meanwhile, has defended her leadership and Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s performance after its candidate Janice Boylan came second in Dublin Central.<\/p>\n

She said the trajectory of Irish politics over the past 10 years was one of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael\u2019s decline and the \u201cgrowth of politics beyond that\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"SideSinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald said the party has \u2018grown and we will grow again\u2019 (Conor O Mearain\/PA)<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe are absolutely front and centre in that, we\u2019re not the totality of it, we recognise that too, but we have had tremendous, tremendous success.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have grown and we will grow again.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Cairns hailed the \u201cstunning\u201d result by Ennis on behalf of the Social Democrats and said voters \u201cknow where they stand\u201d with the party.<\/p>\n

The Social Democrats now have 12 TDs, ahead of Labour on 11, and she said speaking rights should be allocated according to the parties\u2019 size.<\/p>\n

\u201cDaniel\u2019s election victory today shows that people who want an alternative to the Government are increasingly choosing the Social Democrats,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cKey to that is that people know where they stand with the Social Democrats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey know the positive vision we have for this country, and they are voting for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voters in Galway and Dublin cast their votes on Friday to fill seats vacated by Catherine Connolly in Galway West when she became president and former minister Paschal Donohoe, who stopped representing Dublin Central to become the World Bank\u2019s chief knowledge officer.<\/p>\n

The turnout in Dublin Central was 39% while in Galway West it was 44%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fine Gael senator Se\u00e1n Kyne has narrowed the gap between him and Independent Ireland\u2019s Noel Thomas after transfers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-465011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}