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GE2024Independents DayFIFTEEN INDEPENDENT TDs have been elected to the new Dáil – and just three of these are new TDs (although one was previously a TD with a political party in the past).
Polls suggested non-party candidates could get close to 17 or 18% of the vote, but in the end, independents got closer to 13%. Commentators said the swing was because they were viewed as a less toxic brand in the run-up to the general election.
Many incumbent independent TDs were returned to the Dáil this year. But there are also some new faces who will be around the halls of Leinster House for the duration of the next five years.
Gillian Toole, who was a poll-topper in Ratoath during the local elections in June, has been a councillor for ten years. She took the fourth seat in Meath East yesterday on the final count.
Originally a member of Fine Gael, Toole left the party before the local elections in 2019 – citing frustration over public transport, healthcare and community safety in her constituency.
During her time as a councillor, Toole has focused on quality of life issues in Meath, such as the retention of public services and returning to her roots in healthcare to campaign for better reforms.
She was supported and backed during her campaign by independent senator Sharon Keoghan. Toole is the first non-party candidate to be elected to Meath East.
In her responses to questions posed to all candidates by The Journal before the election, she said she plans to place an onus on all TDs to fix public sector systems, such as housing and healthcare, and address generational impoverishment.
Barry Heneghan, 26, is one of the youngest TDs to be elected to the 34th Dáil and campaigns for housing and access to education for younger people in Ireland. He was elected to Dublin Bay North on the 16th count last night.
Heneghan has a background in engineering, graduating from Dublin City University in 2022 with a Masters’ degree. He was elected and an independent councillor to Dublin City Council in June.
He is a protégé of Finian McGrath, former Independent TD for the same constituency and junior minister for disability in the 2016-2020 government of Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance.
Heneghan told The Journal before the election that he wants to see younger people gain better access to homeownership and wants the government to build up to 60,000 homes over the next term.
He suggested that modern solutions, such as modular housing, and higher taxes on vacant properties should be used to increase housing figures. Heneghan also plans to advocate for better rights for those with disabilities and reforms in special education.
McGrath told The Journal that he believes the next government will be made up of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and a handful of independent candidates. Heneghan’s take? He will take some time to discuss with the “kitchen cabinet” first.
Paul Gogarty is certainly no stranger to politics or the electorate of Dublin Mid-West. He has served as an independent councillor for South Dublin County Council since 2014 and previously served as a Green Party TD between 2002-2011.
Gogarty has also contested every general election since 1992 – but has only been an independent candidate since 2014. He was elected last night after the 13th count.
Though he’s probably best known for his 2009 ‘unparliamentary language’ incident during an extremely-tough time in Irish politics, Gogarty believes he still has a “positive contribution” to make to Irish society.
He told The Journal before the election that he believes he will bring a balance of experience and fresh thinking to the Dáil. He campaigned for the provision of better housing, community and transport infrastructure.
Despite letting his membership of the Green Party lapse in 2014, Gogarty is still passionate about addressing the climate crisis and believes the State needs to move towards prioritising renewable energy and using new technology to address it.
He intends to advocate for the better use of public funds while in the Dáil and, whether in government or opposition, address staffing issues in healthcare and judicial reform. He dedicated his election win to his late sister, Emma.
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Riddle me this:
Dog owner jailed for not treating dogs tumour.
Scores of Scoliosis kids untreated for years and a looming election opens the door for treatment abroad……
@Padraic O’ Sullivan: Shocking and scandalous… not taking from that poor little dog’s situation whatsoever but sometimes I feel that we treat our animals better than our fellow humans.
The thoughts that the old independents will join in with FFG for a few new roads and a A+E in Thurles/Tralee for example is depressing as we have been here before….
The journal…sewer of the internet,riddled with trolls
Can we all take a moment to laugh at the far right candidates crying conspiracy because 2 people voted for them?! Apart from being wrong about almost any subject you care to mention they’re also tediously derivative. Oh look! Trump didn’t it. He who must be copied at all costs. We’ll say it too! It says a lot about how poorly they view us, the electorate.
For crying out loud lads. Get off your Facebook and Telegram ‘patriot’ feeds, read a book, talk to people, breathe in, then out. It’s not too late to change and salvage some dignity and from your lives. Do you really want to be on your deathbed looking back at a life shilling for the far right? Hate will eat you alive in the end too.
@SerotoninWars: *Trump did it – take a bow auto-correct ;)
@SerotoninWars: this is the journal.ie comments section. Chill.
@offside again: I will never stop fighting for a typo-free world! I must hold myself and The Grammar Party to the highest standards too ;)
@SerotoninWars: yeah but it’s not like ww3 or anything man
@offside again: Ah come on, throw us a bit of rope! The far-right being heavily defeated is a rare bit of good news in this dismal era we’re living through! I might not have been entirely serious about the typo stuff :)
@SerotoninWars: people won’t vote for people like the peppers of this world, but the established independents and parties who have been most vocal in questioning the level of immigration and abuses in the international protection system have done remarkably well in this election. However, the politicians are now well aware of the widespread public disquiet over immigration and they have responded by a hardening of policy by SF and FG in particular. We won’t see far-right single-issue anti-immigrant people getting elected. We will however see some of their less extreme policies being adopted by the mainstream parties.
Like what can independents accomplish in government? Not much maybe?
Hilarious to see that dumb little turd Philip Dwyer claiming election interference, words he probably only learned recently. Good luck with your journalism course!
Yawn. Please stop.
People won’t vote for low-quality, single-issue agitators and conspiracy theorists even if they might agree that there is too much immigration and that the international protection system is being abused wholesale.
However, the independents and small parties who have been most vocal in criticising the immigration mess have done exceptionally well, proving again that there is a clear opening for a sensible immigration-sceptical centre-right party with candidates who espouse sensible, legal, and not absolutist positions.
Are you listening, Senator McDowell?
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