‘Honoured’ new Longford TD Carrigy vows to work tirelessly and deliver for county

A delighted and emotional Micheál Carrigy said he was 'truly honoured' to win a Dáil seat as he celebrated becoming Longford's new TD in the early hours of Monday morning.

The Ballinalee native, whose campaign centred on bringing a 'new energy', spoke about his political journey, the support of his family and his ambitions to work hard and deliver for people in the county.

Carrigy was deemed elected and hoisted up on the shoulders of raucous supporters at 3.40am as he proudly held a Longford flag aloft following the 15th count.

He raised his hand in delight and he embraced his wife Una, three sons and many supporters.

The North Longford man had been expected by many observers to be involved in a repeat of the tight battle he lost with Fianna Fáil's Joe Flaherty when he was ousted from the final seat in 2020.

However, Carrigy received an impressive 7,090 first preference votes and he stated he was delighted the people in the region had placed their faith in him.

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"I am truly honoured to be elected and to represent all the communities in Longford Westmeath," he said. "I want to thank all of my beloved family, my supporters and all of those who worked with me over the last number of years.”

Carrigy, when asked what the difference was between his unsuccessful 2020 Dáil bid and 2024, suggested it was experience and being more well-known for his work.

"When I was elected to the Seanad I committed to working hard and building my profile on that level," he said

"Politics is local and I continue to work locally and I have a very strong community background. I now want to deliver as a TD for Longford."

Carrigy said he is looking forward to doing just that during the next term in government.

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He outperformed Flaherty in many local areas where he had been beaten by him in the last election.

For example in Legan, Carrigy amassed 132 votes compared to his 93 in 2020, however, Flaherty saw his tally fall from 135 to 98.

In Newtowncashel, Carrigy received 77 votes in 2020 compared to Flaherty's 161, but in 2024, the senator collected 187 compared to the sitting TD's 166 votes.

The married father of thre was reflective and visibly emotional at times as he spoke about those closest to him.

Carrigy stated his late parents Andy and Eilish were a great support and had a strong interest in politics as he reflected on their input.

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"It is emotional, a huge amount of personal time, family time goes into it," Carrigy said. "You think of people, you think of both of my parents (Andy and Eilish) who have both passed away, but who were obviously both strong supports supporters and a big influence on what I've done in life. You think about things like that at moments like this."

Carrigy's first preference total, which was an additional 756 more than he received in 2020, put the experienced politician over 1,800 votes ahead of Flaherty from the outset.

The senator then profited handsomely after his colleague Peter Burke was elected in count one and the he gained a transfer surplus of 107 votes from the Mullingar-based Enterprise Minister.

The former Cathaoirleach of Longford County Council, who was first elected as a public representative, in the Granard Area, in 2009, also reaped huge dividends and 346 votes following Tanya Cannon's count five elimination.

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Carrigy is focused on addressing capacity in primary schools for special classes and he wants to provide additional support for families of kids on the autism spectrum by develop a community hub in Longford.

He was elected as a member of Seanad Éireann in 2020 and served as the Chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism and Secretary of the Fine Gael parliamentary party.

Carrigy had built up a sizeable lead of 2,154 on Flaherty when count six had concluded and by 10.45pm when he received 618 transfers from the eliminated Independent Gerry Warnock the Dáil seat looked secure.

"I'm in a better position than I was four years ago," he said wryly with the glint of a smile. "At that point I knew I was going to be the last person eliminated after getting a significant vote of nearly 7,000 votes."

Carrigy said he used that disappointment as extra motivation.

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“I set out when I was asked by the Taoiseach to put myself forward for the Seanad, I had one goal in mind and that was preparing myself and working towards the next general election.

He praised all of the local Fine Gael councillors and party members who assisted him.
"They have been massively important, this is a team, it's not Micheál Carrigy, it's a Fine Gael team for Longford," he added.

He outlined he comes from the lineage of the Beltons and he spoke warmly of his late relative, the 'great' former TD and senator Louis Belton, who died a year ago.

The Kenagh native was elected as a Fine Gael TD for Longford-Westmeath in 1989 and served for a total of seven years during two separate terms up until 2002.

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"I think today of the great Louis Belton who was a cousin of my own and the great tradition that he had.

“So you think of people like that who would have been a great advisor to me in my previous (general) election campaign," Carrigy stated. "You think of people like that that have influenced you over the years who are no longer with us."