Election 2024: All the latest from the count centres as Ireland elects its next government

Kevin Doyle runs us through the big name casualties of the General Election… so far

Gráinne Seoige (FF) Galway West

Not since George Lee stepped out of the RTÉ newsroom and into Leinster House has there been such a buzz about a media candidate. But Gráinne Seoige’s foray into politics is going to be even shorter than Lee’s ill-fated time in Fine Gael.

Lee topped the poll in a by-election in 2009, but lasted only nine months before returning to Montrose. Seoige won’t even get to see the inside of the Dáil, having attracted around 5pc of the vote in Galway West. This left her well off the pace set by her lesser known running mate Cllr John Connelly. The TV presenter was even outperformed in parts of her Connemara heartland by Independent Catherine Connolly.

Kate O’Connell (Ind) Dublin Bay South

There were more than a few Fine Gael eyebrows raised in anger six weeks ago when Kate O’Connell announced on the front page of the Sunday Independent that she would be running as…