General Election 2024: Twenty candidates in Longford-Westmeath set to do battle for five seats

Twenty candidates are set to battle it out for the five Dáil seats on offer in the Longford-Westmeath constituency.

Nominations for candidates closed at 12 noon today, Saturday, November 16. 

The candidates are;

Margaret Alacoque Maguire (Ireland First); Fidelma Bennett (Labour); Paul Bradley (Independent); Peter Burke (Fine Gael); Barry Campion (Sinn Féin); Tany Cannon (Fine Gael); Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael); Sorca Clarke (Sinn Féin); Dympna Cunniffe (Fianna Fáil); Joe Flaherty (Fianna Fáil); Louise Heavin (Independent); Paul Hogan (Independent Ireland); Donal Jackson (Independent); Charlotte Keenan (Independent); Kevin 'Boxer' Moran (Independent); Laura O'Neill (Aontú); Carol Okeke  (Green Party); Dave Smyth (People Before Profit); Robert Troy (Fianna Fáil); Gerry Warnock (Independent)

Just five of the candidates are Longford based. 

For more Longford-Westmeath General Election news and updates, click the image below to go to the General Election section on longfordlive.ie 

45% (nine) of the candidates in the race are female.

Constituency Profile

As the country goes to the polls on Friday, November 29 to determine the identity of the 174 TDs that will sit in the 34th Dáil, here's what you need to know about the expanded Longford-Westmeath five-seater constituency.

Outgoing TDs: Peter Burke (Fine Gael), Sorca Clarke (Sinn Féin), Joe Flaherty (Fianna Fáil), Robert Troy (Fianna Fáil)

Population: 142,972

The Longford perspective: After James Bannon (Fine Gael) lost his seat in the 2016 General Election, it meant Longford was the ONLY county in the country without a sitting TD in the 32nd Dáil. Four years later, the ‘Make Longford Matter’ slogan of first-time Fianna Fáil candidate Joe Flaherty (7,666 first preference votes) struck a chord with Longford voters and the Lanesboro native and former Managing Director of Iconic Newspapers was the second candidate elected to the 33rd Dáil from the Longford-Westmeath constituency. Flaherty's triumph, alongside that of outgoing TD Robert Troy (9,331 first preference votes), helped Fianna Fáil capture two of the four seats on offer, the first time the party achieved that feat in this constituency since 2007 when Mary O’Rourke and the late Peter Kelly were successfully elected. 

Against the backdrop of Sinn Féin’s incredible #GE2020 performance that saw Sorca Clarke comprehensively top the poll, it was a noteworthy double and the highlight of an otherwise disappointing campaign nationally for Micheál Martin’s party. Clarke, who failed to win a seat in the 2019 local elections in Westmeath, hoovered up votes in every corner of the constituency, including an estimated 3,500 in Longford, as she garnered 11,848 first preferences or 21% (a huge increase of 11.5% - 5,270 - on 2016 when Paul Hogan ran for SF), and she comfortably exceeded the 11,277 quota by 571 votes.

Somewhat ironically, it was the transfer of 2,828 votes from the eliminated Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) that got Flaherty across the line. Carrigy's party colleague Peter Burke (6,617 first preferences) gained 2,709 votes - 119 less than went to Flaherty. The fact that 40% of Carrigy’s votes remained in Longford suggests that voters in the county gave #1 and #2 votes across party lines. However, the Ballinalee postmaster and Co Longford Tourism Chairperson, who was first elected to the county council in 2009, and secured 6,334 first preferences did lament the fact that 3,500 votes left Longford and went mainly to SF’s Sorca Clarke. If a chunk of those votes went to first-time GE candidate Carrigy, then Longford could have been celebrating the election of two TDs. Not since 2007, when James Bannon (FG) and the late Peter Kelly (FF) were successful, has Longford had two sitting TDs.

With an extra seat up for grabs this time around Longford candidates will be hoping to increase their representation but as the 2016 election demonstrated, they can take nothing for granted, particularly since Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, the biggest casualty in the constituency last time out even though he polled 6,730 first preferences, has been rejuvenated following his incredible local election success last June. 

Just five of the twenty candidates in the field are Longford based - Barry Campion (Sinn Féin), Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael), Joe Flaherty (Fianna Fáil), Dave Smyth (People Before Profit) and Gerry Warnock (Independent).

The Issues: The primary election issues are set to be housing, rural crime, health and immigration with the threat of industrial action being taken by over 130 staff at St Christopher's Services another key topic on the doorsteps.

Expanded Constituency: Since the 2020 election, the Longford-Westmeath constituency has  expanded in size. The Electoral Commission recommended the return of 19 electoral divisions in north Westmeath from Meath East to Longford-Westmeath. This brought in an extra 9,484 voters, bringing the constituency population to 142,972 which entitled the area to an extra seat. Despite the reunification of Westmeath, politically it is very much a divided county as Athlone voters usually stay loyal to Athlone candidates, something 'Boxer' Moran will be hoping helps him although he will have Paul Hogan (Independent Ireland) and Louise Heavin (Independent) breathing down his neck and Mullingar voters to Mullingar candidates. Longford voters are expected to back Longford candidates, having learned a lesson in 2016, but once again in 2020 thousands of Longford #1 votes crossed the county boundary. Indeed, tallies from 2016 indicated that 32% of Longford votes crossed the county boundary and went into Westmeath, while the 2020 tallies revealed that around 29% of Longford votes ‘travelled’ to their neighbours.

In the race: Minister Peter Burke, Senator Micheál Carrigy and Athlone-based Tanya Cannon have been selected by Fine Gael. Joe Flaherty is Fianna Fáil's flag bearer in county Longford, while Deputy Robert Troy will join him as he contests his fourth consecutive general election. Taking a leaf out of the FG strategy, FF opted to add a third candidate in the guise of Dympna Cunniffe from Mount Temple. 

Sinn Féin 2020 Longford-Westmeath poll topper Sorca Clarke will be joined by Barry Campion, who secured 253 votes in the Granard Municipal District local election last June, on the ticket. Mullingar-native Fidelma Bennett, who was narrowly denied a seat on Westmeath County Council earlier this year, has been nominated as the Labour candidate.

Cllr Paul Hogan is the Independent Ireland candidate. He previously contested three General Elections (2007, 2011 and 2016) and a By Election (2014) as a Sinn Féin candidate but was unsuccessful. Carol Okeke, who lives in Kinnegad is aiming to become Longford-Westmeath’s very first Green Party TD. Longford town based Dave Smyth is running for People Before Profit.

Laura O'Neill is the Aontú candidate in the Kinnegad area and she has said she is passionate about youth development, animal welfare, mental health advocacy. Of the non party candidates in the field former minister Kevin 'Boxer' Moran is the most high profile. He secured a seat on Westmeath County Council in June when he received one of the highest percentage of first-preference votes nationally -  he mopped up almost 40% of the Athlone vote and two-and-a-half quotas. Boxer served as as Minister of State for the OPW and Flood Relief from 2017 until 2020.

Athlone's first-ever Green Cllr Louise Heavin – who lost her council seat in the June local elections - is also standing as an Independent, while long serving Longford county councillor, Gerry Warnock, was one of the earliest to confirm he would run as an independent candidate last April. Donal Jackson is also running as an Independent and he was previously a candidate in 2020, 2016 and 2011. Margaret Alacoque Maguire is running for Ireland First, while Independents Charlotte Keenan and Paul Bradley are also in the race. 

Likely outcome: General Election predictions always come with a health warning however in #GE2020 there were six candidates that polled in excess of 6,300 first preference votes - Sorca Clarke 11,848; Joe Flaherty 7,666; Peter Burke 6,617; Robert Troy 9,331; Kevin 'Boxer' Moran 6,730 and Micheál Carrigy 6,334 - and it is likely that this sextet will be leading the way once again when the ballot boxes are opened on Saturday, November 30. However, first-time General Election candidate and Longford town based Independent Gerry Warnock will be hoping his strong canvass will prove that prediction wrong and put him in the mix.

There was considerable momentum behind Sinn Féin in 2020 but with recent polls indicating their popularity is falling it will be interesting to see if Deputy Sorca Clarke can top the poll again. Deputy Robert Troy, Minister Peter Burke and Deputy Joe Flaherty will also be hoping to retain their seats and the shootout for the final seat could become a Longford v Athlone showdown. No doubt there'll be many twists and turns between now and when the Returning Officer announces the outcome of the final count!

20 Candidates 

Alacoque Maguire, Margaret (Ireland First)

Bennett, Fidelma (Labour)

Bradley, Paul (Independent)

Burke, Peter (Fine Gael)

Campion, Barry (Sinn Féin)

Cannon, Tanya (Fine Gael)

Carrigy, Micheál (Fine Gael)

Clarke, Sorca (Sinn Féin)

Cunniffe, Dympna (Fianna Fáil)

Flaherty, Joe (Fianna Fáil)

Heavin, Louise (Independent)

Hogan, Paul (Independent Ireland)

Jackson, Donal (Independent)

Keenan, Charlotte (Independent)

Moran, Kevin 'Boxer' (Independent) 

O'Neill, Laura (Aontú)

Okeke, Carol (Green Party)

Smyth, Dave (People Before Profit)

Troy, Robert (Fianna Fáil) 

Warnock, Gerry (Independent)