Counting is underway this morning (Saturday, November 30) in the General Election 2024 to determine the make up of the 34th Dáil, following polling day yesterday (Friday, November 29).
Polls were open from 7:00a.m to 10:00p.m yesterday. There were over 700 candidates running across 43 constituencies.
The next Dáil will have 174 TDs, making it the largest Dáil in the history of the state.
This also means that 88 seats are needed for a majority. However, with the way things have been going in Irish politics in recent elections, no party will get near that majority on its own, and even putting together a coalition that would achieve that majority is likely to be a drawn-out process.
From a farming and rural standpoint, the main candidates to watch out for in this general election include, of course, the current Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue, who is looking to retain his seat in Donegal.
Both of his junior ministers are also running, with Minister of State for new market development, farm safety and research and development Martin Heydon looking to retain his seat in Kildare South.
Minister of State for land use and biodiversity Pippa Hackett, meanwhile, is looking to become a TD for the first time, having been a member of the Seanad while also being a minister of state in the outgoing government. She is running in Offaly.
On the opposition side, Sinn Féin spokesperson for agriculture Martin Kenny is running in Sligo-Leitrim.
Elsewhere, Independent Ireland TD Michael Fitzmaurice is looking to retain his seat in Roscommon-Galway; and Fine Gael senator Tim Lombard, the vice-chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, is looking to get a seat in the Dáil for the first time in Cork South-West.
Meanwhile, Eddie Punch, who had been the general secretary of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association for 25 years up to this year, is running as an Independent Ireland candidate in Clare, having missed out on a bid for a European Parliament seat in the Local and European Elections in the summer.
Two notable absence at this election will be Fianna Fáil’s Jackie Cahill, chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, who said last month that he would not seek re-election on health grounds; as well as former minister for agriculture Simon Coveney, who announced in July that he would not contest the next election.
Stay tuned to Agriland for continued coverage of General Election 2024 and what it will hold for these candidates and the current government parties.