General Election 2016 Count

pixbyjohn

General Election 2016, Stephen Donnelly poll topper and elected on first count by Pixbyjohn, on Flickr

Full set from Saturday's count here http://www.greystonesguide.ie/the-wicklow-count-all-the-pics/

pixbyjohn

General Election 2016 John Brady elected on 2nd count by Pixbyjohn, on Flickr
Full set from Saturday's count here http://www.greystonesguide.ie/the-wicklow-count-all-the-pics/

pixbyjohn

General Election 2016, Simon Harris elected on 2nd count by Pixbyjohn, on Flickr

Full set from Saturday's count here http://www.greystonesguide.ie/the-wicklow-count-all-the-pics/

pixbyjohn

4 out of the 5 elected in Wicklow by Pixbyjohn, on Flickr
Full set of Sunday's count photos here>>> http://www.greystonesguide.ie/the-general-election-the-morning-after-in-greystones/

eigrod

Hope all the sharp viewers will have seen PBJ and his camera on TV over the weekend

loyatemu

pixbyjohn wrote: »

4 out of the 5 elected in Wicklow by Pixbyjohn, on Flickr
Full set of Sunday's count photos here>>> http://www.greystonesguide.ie/the-general-election-the-morning-after-in-greystones/

could Simon Harris look any more shifty?

Cerco

loyatemu wrote: »

could Simon Harris look any more shifty?

No love lost with Andrew Doyle either.

recedite

Being overtaken by a whippersnapper is never a pleasant experience for a mature gentleman.

pixbyjohn

Stephen Donnelly TD, former Social Democrat Party member by Pixbyjohn, on Flickr

recedite

He was never going to see eye to eye with those lefties anyway.
I presume he will already have some arrangement in mind with a more centrist party.
FG politicians are already overpopulated around here, so that only leaves FF unless he moves to some other part of the country.

loyatemu

moving to FF would be very risky for him - he personally outpolled the combined vote of the 2 FF candidates by over 50% in the last election. Quite a lot of his supporters would not vote for him as an FF candidate, and FF voters might resent seeing him parachuted into the party.

I suspect he would have preffered to have gone into government after the last election but was overruled by the other 2 SDs; especially as his erstwhile mentor Shane Ross is now a minister.

Cerco

I think joining any of the mainstream parties would destroy him. He would be muted and sidelined before he could establish himself.
I see the poll on the journal.ie shows 49% favour him staying independent.

Annasopra

Whitmore staying in Soc Dems is an interesting one. In a general election she would surely be a general election candidate then and could damage Donnellys vote.

The electorate is volatile. Just cause he topped the poll this time doesnt he cant be kicked out next time.

L1011

The number of poll toppers out on their arse next time around is quite high. Mary Hanifin, Aine Brady and a number of other FFers 2007->2011 for instance; Padraigh MacLochlainn for SF 2011->2016 is one where against any general party tide.

Eponymous

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Whitmore staying in Soc Dems is an interesting one. In a general election she would surely be a general election candidate then and could damage Donnellys vote.

The electorate is volatile. Just cause he topped the poll this time doesnt he cant be kicked out next time.

What's rare is beautiful and for once we agree on something!

A lot of people voted for Donnelly on the basis that he wanted to reform politics and made a principled stand in staying out of government to avoid being seen as in it for a ministry. Joining forces with any of the big parties now would really affect his popularity in the constituency and would almost certainly see Whitmore's star rising.

If he ploughs the furrow he was on, there's no reason they couldn't both be returned in the next GE, him as an Independent, her as a SD.

Annasopra

Eponymous wrote: »

What's rare is beautiful and for once we agree on something!

A lot of people voted for Donnelly on the basis that he wanted to reform politics and made a principled stand in staying out of government to avoid being seen as in it for a ministry. Joining forces with any of the big parties now would really affect his popularity in the constituency and would almost certainly see Whitmore's star rising.

If he ploughs the furrow he was on, there's no reason they couldn't both be returned in the next GE, him as an Independent, her as a SD.

Perhaps but for that to happen Whitmore needs to extensively grow a profile outside Greystones. I dont think Greystones is strong to elect 3 TDs out of 5 in the county. People do vote local.