Labour’s Conor Sheehan has secured his seat in the Dail after winning the fourth seat in the General Election
Newly elected TD Conor Sheehan has vowed to be a voice for the younger generation of Ireland when he takes his seat in Dail Eireann.
Speaking after the highly contested race for the final seat in the Limerick City Constituency, the Garryowen man thanked his voters and the people of Limerick, claiming it was the “honour of his life” to have been elected to the 34th Dail: “I have a job of work now to make sure I represent the people of Limerick well.”
A first-time General Election candidate, Sheehan also spoke about his desire to be a voice for the younger generation of Ireland.
Conor Sheehan during UL´s General Election Debate
“If you’re not at the table you’re on the menu, and our generation has been on the menu for far too long”
The 31-year-old was one of seven General Election candidates who participated in the debate at the University of Limerick before polling day. During the debate, he vowed to change the way the government has treated people in Limerick and across Ireland, claiming that “basic needs are not being met.”
Commenting on the current state of the healthcare system in Ireland, in particular the University Hospital of Limerick, he said “The needs of the people of Limerick are not being met” During the debate he also expressed his outrage that the new 96-bed-unit in UHL “lays there with the plastic on it, as there’s no staff to utilise it”
Elisa O’Donovan’s words to Conor Sheehan
Sheehan’s opposition, Elisa O’Donovan, congratulated her competitor on his win, praising his beliefs and encouraging “other women to get involved in politics”. O’Donovan also theorised that the incorrect order of names on the ballot paper on voting day was “very, very unfortunate and it’s very unfair” as it had more than likely impacted her candidacy run, and “it could quite possibly have cost me a seat”.
General Election in Limerick City
Voters saw that O’Donovan and Willie O’Dea had their names listed lower than they should have been on the typically alphabetically ordered ballot paper.
Sinn Fein’s Maurice Quinlivan, Fianna Fail’s Willie O’Dea and Fine Gael’s Kieren O’Donnell all reclaim their seats in the Limerick City constituency.