by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was held in the Dáil Éireann Dublin West constituency in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on Thursday 27 October 2011, following the death of

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) and former Minister for Finance

Brian Lenihan Jnr Brian Joseph Lenihan (21 May 1959 – 10 June 2011) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Finance from 2008 to 2011, Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil from March 2011 to June 2011, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law ...

on 10 June 2011. The

2011 Irish presidential election The 2011 Irish presidential election was the thirteenth presidential election to be held in Ireland, and was contested by a record seven candidates. It was held on Thursday, 27 October 2011. The election was held to elect a successor to Mary ...

and two constitutional referendums were held on the same day. Patrick Nulty of the Labour Party was elected after a prolonged count.

Candidates

Thirteen candidates contested the by-election. Four were members of Fingal County Council: David McGuinness of

, Eithne Loftus of

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

, Patrick Nulty of the Labour Party, and

Ruth Coppinger Ruth Coppinger (born 18 April 1967) is an Irish politician and member of the Socialist Party. She was elected as a Teachta Dála (TD) in the Dublin West constituency in 2014. In the 2016 general election, she ran as a candidate for Anti-Aust ...

of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

. The other party candidates were Paul Donnelly of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

Roderic O'Gorman Roderic O'Gorman (born 12 December 1981) is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth since June 2020. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency s ...

of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

and Peadar Ó Ceallaigh of

Fís Nua Fís Nua (; English: "New Vision") is a minor environmentalist political party in Ireland. History The party was formed in June 2010, mainly by former members of the Green Party who were unhappy with that party's participation in the then coal ...

. There were six independent candidates: Gary Bermingham, a satirical actor and artist; Benny Cooney, a FÁS employee; Brendan Doris, an architect; Barry Caesar Hunt, a contestant in ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with various professional backg ...

'' reality television show in 2010; John Frank Kidd, a retired fire officer; and Jim Tallon, a farmer. Donnelly, McGuinness, Nulty and O'Gorman had all been unsuccessful candidates in this constituency at the general election in February 2011. Bermingham, Cooney, Ó Ceallaigh and Tallon had been candidates in other constituencies at the same election.

Result

A full recount was ordered after only 18 votes separated Socialist Party candidate Ruth Coppinger from Fianna Fáil candidate David McGuinness. After the recount, both McGuinness and Coppinger had the same number of votes in the fourth count. Under electoral law Coppinger was eliminated, for McGuinness had more first-preference votes. It was the first time since July 1982 – when

Noel Treacy Noel Treacy (18 December 1951 – 2 February 2022) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway East constituency from 1982 to 2011. He served as Minister of State in a number of departments over his c ...

won a seat in Galway East – that a candidate of a governing party won a by-election. The result left Fianna Fáil with no TDs in Dublin city and County.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dublin West by-election, 2011 2011 Dublin West by-election 2011 in Irish politics 31st Dáil By-elections in the Republic of Ireland Elections in Fingal By-elections in County Dublin 2010s in Dublin (city) October 2011 events in Europe

Candidates

Result

See also

References