Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It has been a wonderful weekend seeing democracy in action. It has been incredible and exhilarating and there has been such excitement. There have been ups and downs and lows and disappointment, but it has been phenomenal.

I have worked with many of our candidates in Fine Gael. We are delighted to see that we have doubled the number of our councillors in the Roscommon-Galway constituency. I want to say “Congratulations” to our councillors. In the Ballinasloe municipal district, there is Councillor Peter Keaveney, who is a brand-new councillor. A young fellow, Alan Harney, is coming through. We have two sitting councillors in Roscommon who fought battles and kept their seats. Our new councillors come from very different backgrounds. Councillor Domnick Connolly, who was formerly a councillor, came back to fight another day. That give hope to candidates who may not have been successful this time around. It is so crucial to stay engaged and involved and be part of your community.

I want to also thank Gareth Scahill, who is a brand-new councillor for Castlerea. I thank Liam Callaghan, and of course, John Naughten in south Roscommon. I acknowledge and pay tribute to the candidates who ran, including two candidates, Dympna Daly Finn and Robert McConn. Again, this was such a battle. Sometimes, when it comes down to a handful of votes, it is just so difficult.

I too pay tribute to the newspapers and radio stations. Shannonside and Galway Bay FM were going non-stop. Colleagues were all over Shannonside, as well as the radio in the midlands, Roscommon and Galway. They were on Galway Bay FM as well.

I honestly do not know how the staff of the county councils did it. We were there until 3.30 a.m. and 4 a.m. on the Saturday and it was the same across so many areas. We came back again when we had a recount. This is a tribute to incredible democracy in action. I wish Senator Chambers well. It was great to see so many people voting in the European elections. We are seeing huge numbers coming through there as well. Of course, we have our own candidate, Maria Walsh, who travelled all around the area.

Hopefully, once we get through the next few days, we will again see a focus on the job we need to do. It has been a crazy couple of months, but we have seen great success with candidates coming through. I encourage those who were not successful to stay engaged and consider the future.