IT WAS a long wait for Sinn Féin’s Maurice Quinlivan, and it might be unlucky for some, but on the 13th count he finally made it across the line to be returned to the Dáil for another term.
Count 13 turned out to be the lucky shout for the sitting TD, earning 9,236 votes after a massive transfer from outgoing Sarah Beasley (Aontú), enough to take him past the 8,425 surplus.
Speaking to this reporter after being returned, the Sinn Féin deputy urged for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to not exclude them from government formation talks.
“There was no doubt from when the first boxes opened yesterday that we were going to get elected here, it just took a long time, so I’m happy great results,” he said.
“I just want to thank everybody in my campaign team, my family and friends who came out and canvassed for me in a difficult election, with the weather, particularly we had a number of storms during that occasion. But I particularly want to thank all the people who came out and gave me their first preference number or a preference down the line. I’m delighted,” Deputy Quinlivan said.
Not being included in government formation talks would be “disappointing”, Deputy Quinlivan said, in an election that saw a large number of SF candidates elected to the Dáil.
“We’re probably going to have the highest number of elected members ever. So I don’t think that it disappointed whatsoever,” he opined.
“If you asked me a couple of months ago, we were struggling, we got through that. We had a really good campaign, and we’re probably delivering the highest number of TDs that Sinn Féin ever had.
“What I might be disappointed with is if some of the government parties don’t include us in discussions. I think it’s really, really important that even if they don’t want to do a deal with us, they have to talk to us, because my voters as important as anybody else’s voters, and it’s really important that people who vote for Sinn Féin are treated equally in this country,” Deputy Quinlivan concluded.
The race for the fourth and final seat continues, with Conor Sheehan (LAB), Elisa O’Donovan (SD), and Dee Ryan (FF) sitting on 4,631, 4,550, and 4,346 votes respectively.
