Main Points

  • We are in the final few days of the Dublin Central and Galway West byelection campaigns
  • Voting takes place from 7am to 10pm on Friday and with crowded fields of candidates in both constituencies transfers are set to be decisive
  • Counting starts on Saturday morning with results expected by early evening
  • Fine Gael are prioritising the campaign in Galway where its candidate Seán Kyne is in the hunt for the seat
  • Sinn Féin may concentrate its attention on Dublin Central where Janice Boylan led last week’s poll but will face a stiff challenge for the seat from the Social Democrats’Daniel Ennis

Key Reads

Jack White – 17 minutes ago

Galway West byelection an opportunity to send Government a ‘loud message’, McDonald says

Sinn Féín leader Mary Lou McDonald says Friday’s byelection in Galway is an opportunity to send Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael a “loud message” that “enough is enough”.

“It’s time for action to cut the cost of living and make life affordable,” she said in a post on X.

The findings of an Irish Times/TG4 opinion poll earlier this month on first-preference votes showed Sinn Féin’s candidate in Galway West, Mark Lohan, at 7 per cent.

Fine Gael’s Seán Kyne was leading at 17 per cent. He was followed by Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas (16 per cent) and Labour’s Helen Ogbu (12 per cent).

Jack White – 42 minutes ago

‘A lot of hurt’ in RTÉ after latest pay controversy, Minister for Media says

In advance of seeking Cabinet approval for new legislation that would bring RTÉ under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan said there cannot be a “relationship built on revelation” with the broadcaster.

“We’ve been down this road before, and here we are again,” he said, after RTÉ last week confirmed that Derek Mooney’s pay was incorrectly listed.

RTÉ said it had decided to revise its top 10 highest-earning presenters for 2024 to include Derek Mooney, who is also a producer, after it “reconsidered what constitutes a presenter”.

“There is a lot of hurt in the organisation because people thought this is the end of it, and clearly it is not,” O’Donovan said.

Also speaking ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, Tánaiste Simon Harris said there appeared to be a “bit of an upstairs-downstairs situation going on in RTÉ, that certain producers can be over here, and that’s not fair”.

“So, there’s a fairness issue here, there’s a transparency issue here, and then there’s just an accuracy issue here, fairness, transparency, and accuracy. And we need all three of them to ensure we don’t have Groundhog Day.” – PA

As the byelection campaigns enter their final days, the Government is to move today to have RTÉ’s finances audited by the State’s spending watchdog.

It will mean the Comptroller and Auditor General will assume responsibility for auditing RTÉ’s account. Until now, the broadcaster has had its accounts privately audited.

The move will also allow the office to carry out value-for-money examinations to ensure that the broadcaster is making best use of taxpayers’ money.

Under the new arrangement, the Dáil’s public spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee, will have the power to hold public meetings examining RTÉ’s accounts and spending.

Read more here.

Dissatisfaction with Government in Galway West

Like Dublin Central, there is an anti-Government mood on the ground in Galway West.

In an Irish Times/TG4 opinion poll in the constituency earlier this month, just 20 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied with the Government’s handling of the fuel crisis, while two-thirds of voters (67 per cent) said they were dissatisfied.

More than a third (35 per cent) of respondents said they were impacted by Galway’s housing shortage.

Among them, 26 per cent said rents were too high, 23 per cent pointed to a lack of rental accommodation and 15 per cent said there was a lack of housing to buy.

Asked about the most important issue for Galway for them, the top choice among those polled was “roads”, including the plans for a bypass for the city, on 27 per cent, followed by housing (26 per cent), the cost of living (11 per cent) and public transport (8 per cent).

Harry McGee breaks down the key issues facing young voters in Galway West.
Video: Alyson Henry Strong appetite for change in Dublin Central

Polling for The Irish Times and TG4 earlier this month showed a strong appetite for change in the Dublin Central constituency.

Over half of all respondents (53 per cent) said they felt it was time for “radical change” in the way the country is run, while a further 39 per cent were in favour of “moderate change”.

There was dissatisfaction with the Government, with almost three-quarters of voters (72 per cent) saying they were dissatisfied with the handling of the fuel crisis.

The cost of living was the most important issue for the constituency, cited by a third (33 per cent). This was followed by house prices (24 per cent), immigration (12 per cent) and the cost of renting (11 per cent).

According to the same poll by Ipsos B&A, Sinn Féin’s Janice Boylan was leading the race with 21 per cent of first-preference votes.

She was followed closely by Social Democrats candidate Daniel Ennis (18 per cent) and veteran criminal Gerry Hutch (14 per cent), who is running as an Independent candidate.

Jack Horgan Jones takes a closer look at what the numbers in the TG4/Irish Times poll mean for the upcoming byelection in Dublin Central. Video: Bryan O’Brien Kyne holds the slimmest of leads in Galway West

Political Correspondent Harry McGee joined Fine Gael’s Seán Kyne on a canvass to Inis Oírr last week.

Fine Gael candidate in the Galway West byelection, Seán Kyne, travelled to Inis Oírr to canvass islanders for votes. Video: Enda O’Dowd

Kyne holds the slimmest of leads over Independent Ireland rival Noel Thomas in the Galway West byelection campaign, according to an Irish Times/TG4 opinion poll in the constituency earlier this month.

The findings of the poll on first-preference votes show Kyne at 17 per cent followed by Thomas on 16 per cent and Labour’s Helen Ogbu on 12 per cent.

Frustrations in Dublin Central Sinn Féin heartland

Political Correspondent Jack Horgan-Jones was out and about with Sinn Féin and Fine Gael canvassers last week, and recalled the adage from former taoiseach and Dublin Central TD Bertie Ahern who used to tell his charges it was best to campaign with the sun on your back.

The teams from Sinn Féin and Fine Gael that fanned out across different parts of the constituency midweek enjoyed a bit of fine weather – although both had to contend with squalling rain and cold winds.

In Cabra, more recent words from Ahern were dominating headlines after the former taoiseach’s comments on immigration were covertly recorded during a canvass by Fianna Fáil.

The Irish Times’ polling shows that immigration is the third-most important issue for voters in Dublin Central, cited by 12 per cent of voters in the constituency.

The cost of living (33 per cent) and house prices (24 per cent) far eclipse immigration as a concern. However, it does outscore health, the economy, and law and order in voter concerns.

Four things to watch in last few days of campaigning

Candidates and their parties are in their final days of campaigning in the Dublin Central and Galway West byelections.

With crowded fields of candidates in both constituencies and transfers certain to be decisive, every preference is precious, writes Political Editor Pat Leahy.

The margins between success and failure could be wafer thin, so expect a frantic final few days on the ground. Here is what to watch out for.

Time to prioritise

Parties are deciding where to concentrate their energies. Fine Gael will prioritise the campaign in Galway where its candidate Seán Kyne is in the hunt for the seat. Party leader and Tánaiste Simon Harris plans to be there on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

It would be surprising if Sinn Féin did not make the opposite judgment: to concentrate its attention on Dublin Central where Janice Boylan led last week’s poll but will face a stiff challenge for the seat from the Social Democrats’ Daniel Ennis.

Getting out the vote

Turnout tends to be lower in byelections than at general elections, which only increases the importance of a party getting out its supporters to turn up on the day.

All parties will have a get-out-the-vote operation on polling day, but it is vital for Sinn Féin if it is to stand a chance of winning in Dublin West.

Beg, borrow, steal transfers

Nobody is getting elected on the first count: these elections will be decided by the transfers between candidates. These are unpredictable but will be influenced by factors such as geography, ideology, support/opposition to the Government, as well as candidates’ performance in the campaign.

Manage expectations

Though the byelections won’t change the balance of power in the Dáil, they have a political importance beyond that measurement partly because they dominate the political agenda for a few weeks.

Wins for the Social Democrats and/or Independent Ireland would confirm them as coming forces.