Galway West: Ó Cuív disappointed FF didn't take second seat

Deputy Ó Cuív who topped the poll, and was the first TD elected today in the five-seat constituency, said the Sinn Féin surge denied city councillor Ollie Crowe a seat.

“We knew that the second seat was gone when the exit-poll was announced the other night. I was very disappointed because I had good hopes until then. But this surge for Sinn Féin right across the country was absolutely massive. We see a lot of disappointed people today because Fianna Fáil had hoped to get up to the mid-50s in seats and that is clearly not going to happen.

“We are going to be slightly down on the number of seats we had when the Dáil dissolved. Not a great day for Fianna Fáil. Galway West held up very, very well. We are just one percent down from the last election. Ollie Crowe did very well, he got more than my running mate got the last time. And my vote held up very, very solid,” he said.