A Dáil by-election was held in the constituency of Dublin Fingal in Ireland on Friday, 29 November 2019, to fill a vacancy in the 32nd Dáil. It followed the election of Independents 4 Change Teachta Dála (TD) Clare Daly to the European Parliament.
It was held on the same day as three other by-elections in Cork North-Central, Dublin Mid-West and Wexford. The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2011 stipulates that a by-election in Ireland must be held within six months of a vacancy occurring. The by-election writ was moved in the Dáil on 7 November 2019.
At the 2016 general election, the electorate of Dublin Fingal was 93,486, and the constituency elected one Fianna Fáil TD, one Independents 4 Change TD, one Fine Gael TD, one Labour Party TD, and one Sinn Féin TD.
The by-election was won by the Green Party candidate Joe O'Brien, a member of Fingal County Councill. It was the first by-election won by a Green Party candidate.
Among the candidates were two Senators Lorraine Clifford-Lee and James Reilly and four Fingal County Councillors Ann Graves, Dean Mulligan, Joe O'Brien and Duncan Smith.
This was the first occasion when by-elections were contested by Independents 4 Change (who also contested Dublin Mid-West) and the Social Democrats (who also contested Cork North-Central and Dublin Mid-West).
Campaign During the campaign, the Fianna Fáil candidate Lorraine Clifford-Lee was embroiled in controversy when she had to apologise for the language she had used in tweets she had made in 2011, which were derogatory towards the Traveller community.
Result
References
External links Dublin County returning officer