Impressive eighth Dáil term for Brendan Smith

Fianna Fáil supporters will wonder how on earth this election was so nerve-jangling. Nationally, the party had been buoyed by an upturn in support and were set to lead the next government, but somehow in Cavan Monaghan the out-going deputies Brendan Smith and Niamh Smyth at times felt far from shoo-ins.

Surely it shouldn’t have been like this?

Entering the early hours of third day of the count, both Brendan Smith and Niamh Smyth had yet to make an appearance at the count centre. Was their absence a sign of nerves?

Not so, assured Smith-with-an-i who was first elected 32 years ago. The stalwart noted he was well placed from the moment the tallies placed him in third, where he remained for nearly all of the counts.

Those tallies were eventually confirmed by the first count which showed Brendan Smith attracting 6,653 first preferences (down from 7,354 in 2020, albeit from a smaller eligible vote and with seven more candidates). In the last general election Smith struggled to attract transfers, and some commentators in this parish projected he would be in danger if this repeated.

Smyth-with-a-y’s position was more perilous. Having run a constituency office in the Farney outposts of ‘Blayney and Carrickmacross on top of her home patch, and chaired the committee overseeing the RTÉ’s Tubridy drama, she might have anticipated a larger return than her 5,789 first preferences. Would it be enough? Time, lots and lots of time, would tell.

The count had all the drama of watching a Trapattoni era Ireland team play out an interminable nil all draw. It would have felt unpatriotic to look away so the Celt endured.

With the quota of 11,542 hiding beyond the horizon, it seemed obvious the fates of the two Cavan Fianna Fáilers would rest upon the restorative powers of party-loyal transfers from a third dropping out.

Robbie Gallagher however wasn’t the obvious sacrificial lamb as he had greatly improved on his 2020 display by adding a further 1,200 votes bringing him to a very respectable starting point of 6,273. It was an excellent performance given the two incumbent FF TDs in the constituency. He joined Smith in the top five positions at the early stages while Smyth languished uncomfortably in seventh place.

When a clutch of right wingers migrated out of contention, their transfers saw Sarah O’Reilly of Aontú make an unexpected surge ahead of Smyth. By count seven, Smyth looked cast adrift in eighth with Gallagher looking decidedly un-sacrificed. She was honest to admit she faced elimination.

“Of course, of course,” she said from the more comfortable vantage point of Monday evening. “There were moments where my vote slipped a little bit back. My tallymen had warned me that that was going to happen but to hold tight I would still catch up. So that was the case. It gave a sense of calm in your head to be able to manage those hours while it may have looked like you were slipping back.”

Some of the Fianna Fáil contingent look stunned, others confidently pronounced they had “done the numbers” and Smyth would get in.

Smith-with-an-i meanwhile had proven not quite a transfer magnet, but maybe a vote-velcro throughout the early counts and then the elimination of Shane P O’Reilly (II) gave him a 300-plus boost. It was the porous FF-FG divide that really pushed the Smy/iths Dáilward. Breffni blues Carmel Brady and TP O’Reilly in counts eight and nine shovelled 1,369 to Smith and 1,608 to Smyth; while across the Farney divide Gallagher was spoonfed just 331. Despite his great run, his counts were numbered.

Returning officer Joe Smith-with-an-i (no relation) performed his duty at 4am on Sunday morning. With Gallagher’s unlucky departure the Smi/yths could wait out the further four counts over the next day in relative comfort.

“I’m thinking of my good colleague Senator Robbie Gallagher who hasn’t been able to make it,” Smyth said, clearly moved for him.

“As a political party we run three candidates - I know Sinn Fein did the same thing as did Fine Gael - we never lose hope of getting those three seats, but it hasn’t happened today,”

Count 14 saw the Smi/yths raised shoulder high in their two distinct camps as both were elected just shy of the quota. However Cllr Niall Smith-with-an-i-but-a-cousin-of-Smyth-with-y manfully congratulated Smith with a big hug and brought the soldiers of destiny together in one formidable battalion leading celebratory shouts of “Fianna Fáil”. It was genuinely a stirring moment.

Smith was elected for an impressive eighth General Election in a row; Smyth, meanwhile, was elected for the third time.

While the barn-storming arrival of Cathy Bennett at the expense of Pauline Tully, and the remarkable performance of Sarah O’Reilly will be the talk of this election, truly Smith’s election is the greatest achievement.

“I’m absolutely delighted, I never take for granted the support of the people. I’ve been very very fortunate to have succeeded in getting the confidence of the people,” he said, adding he has done this consecutively since 1992.

Asked what has motivated him through the years, Deputy Smith replied: “I enjoy it.”

“I get great satisfaction out of helping an individual, helping a community, helping a family.

“The only promise I give on a doorstep is, I will do my very best.”