Dáil race in Longford / Westmeath simmering nicely with eleven declared candidates to-date

Sinn Féin have selected Barry Campion as their second candidate in the Longford-Westmeath constituency, while Cllr Paul Hogan has been chosen by Independent Ireland.

Mr Campion, who ran for the party in the local elections and received 253 first preference votes, has lived in county Longford for 11 years.

Mr Campion stated his Granard area local election result was not very rewarding, however, the campaign generally was a "very good" experience.

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"It was interesting and great to get the engagement we got on the ground," he said.

Mr Campion who works in the medical devices industry, said the party believe they can win two seats.

"I was involved in setting up the Irish Red Cross in Longford and since I started running for election I have been dealing with people's issues on the ground," he added.

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Mr Campion, who works in the medical devices industry, stated he has actively engaging with people on housing issues.
Meanwhile, Councillor Paul Hogan, who has been selected by Independent Ireland, is an Athlone-based representative who unsuccessfully contested three General Elections in 2007, 2011 and 2016 and a By Election in 2014 as a Sinn Féin candidate.

In 2016, he polled 5,270 first preference votes but narrowly missed out on winning the fourth seat to Labour's Willie Penrose.
He subsequently quit the party in 2018 citing "an unrelenting bullying campaign".

A total of 11 candidates have been declared so far.

They are Peter Burke and Micheál Carrigy (both Fine Gael), Sorca Clarke and Barry Campion (both Sinn Féin) Robert Troy and Joe Flaherty (both Fianna Fáil), Paul Hogan (Independent Ireland), Laura O'Neill (Aontú), Louise Heavin (Ind), Kevin 'Boxer' Moran (Ind) and Gerry Warnock (Ind).