Winners and losers: What we’ve learned from the byelections

Pat Leahy and Harry McGee join Hugh to talk about the results of the Dublin Central and Galway West byelections:

As the day began Fine Gael were confident that their man, Senator Sean Kyne, would win the seat. That confidence wavered a little as Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas picked up significant transfers throughout the morning. In the end it wasn’t enough and Fine Gael leader Tanaiste Simon Harris was celebrating a rare byelection win for a party in power. But is he right to call it “a victory for centrist politics”?

Independent Ireland can be encouraged by Noel Thomas’s performance in Galway West.

Fine Gael and Social Democrats are the winners on this occasion. But can they turn these victories into long-term success?

There was evidence of “vote left, transfer left” behaviour in Galway. But many of Sinn Féin’s voters gave their second preferences to Independent Ireland rather than Labour or Social Democrats.

Fianna Fáil were the other big losers in this campaign. But how much do these byelections, both won by strong local candidates, really tell us about the strength of the party nationwide?

Should the counting of votes take so long? Hugh and Pat think not, but Harry McGee dissents.

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