"WHAT does cloud nine feel like, Michael?" a supporter roared as Fine Gael's poll topper in Mayo, Mr Michael Ring, hugged and kissed all around him outside the count centre in Castlebar.
The Westport auctioneer was mobbed by family and supporters on his triumphant arrival at the Traveller's Friend Hotel. They spilled out on to the roadway and sent their cheers ringing to the heavens.
As he was hoisted up on shoulders and carried towards the entrance, Mr Ring looked slightly dazed, as if he could not quite believe what was happening. He later confessed he had been too nervous to eat all day.
One elderly man forced his way through the crowd and gripped the TD's hand, before giving his name. "Don't forget it," he admonished the deputy. "Oh no, I won't forget it," Mr Ring replied.
There were more cheers as he entered the hall. One man, presumably a Fianna Fail supporter, looked on in disgust as Ring supporters pressed into the hall behind him. "Where did they get all the passes?" he asked.
The celebrations began even before the results of the first count were announced, as tallies showed Mr Ring had pulled off another sensational victory, delivering three out of five seats to Fine Gael in a former Fianna Fail stronghold.
For most of the past 20 years, the Soldiers of Destiny had held four out of six seats in the county. It is now reduced to two out of five, and the glum faces among Fianna Fail tally people showed how upset they were.
Mr Ring won an unexpected victory in the 1994 byelection in Mayo West by defeating the Fianna Fail candidate, Ms Beverly Cooper Flynn, who had been tipped to win the seat vacated by her father, Mr Padraig Flynn.
This outing looked much more problematic, however, with six sitting TDs chasing five seats. They included two Fine Gael ministers - Mr Enda Kenny and Mr Jim Higgins - and Mr Ring was expected to have a fight on his hands for the last seat.
In the event, however, he romped home ahead even of his two colleagues, beating Mr Kenny to the top of the poll by more than 1,500 votes.
During an impromptu press conference in the counting hall Mr Ring attributed his success to his patient work on the ground particularly in Belmullet and elsewhere in north Mayo.
Mr Ring has capitalised on his humble beginnings - as a young man he made a living delivering bread throughout much of the county. He has carefully cultivated his grassroots since his 1994 victory, particularly in north Mayo.
A perceived bias against the northern half of the constituency was a big factor in the campaign, and Mr Ring tapped into wide spread discontent there over Fianna Fail's record, garnering votes in areas which never voted for Fine Gael before this.
"I went down there when the weather was bad; I went down there when nobody else went down there; I went down and I worked there and the people responded," he said.
"I felt last week that the campaign had gone against me, because there were . . . a lot of tricks, from my own side particularly, high powered stuff, but I could see the swing coming back to me in the last few days." He put down a strong marker that he wanted a seat at the cabinet table if Fine Gael was returned to power. "I was the curate, they were the two parish priests. I believe now that I'm the canon, and I hope John Bruton will recognise that.
"I hadn't the resources other people had. This election proves one thing: you cannot buy votes with money. It's all about work, and the people of Mayo responded to me.
Meanwhile, the first woman TD elected in Mayo, Ms Beverly Cooper Flynn, promised to work hard for the county. "My priority, as a young person - and it's been very much a focal point of my campaign - is to concentrate very much on young people, creating job opportunities and making sure the people of Mayo prosper, and that their standard of living is equal to anywhere else in this country," she said.
Her father, Mr Padraig Flynn, was "extremely proud" of her achievement, Ms Cooper Flynn added.
"We've been over the moon since early this morning when the first tally results came in. I'm very proud to be carrying on the Flynn name into Dail Eireann, and indeed to win a seat back again for the town of Castlebar," she said.