Mayo has returned two Fine Gael and two Fianna Fail TDs to the in-coming Dáil.

The victors were Taoiseach Enda Kenny, his colleague Michael Ring, Fianna Fáil’s Dara Calleary and new-comer party colleague Lisa Chambers.

The result is a set back for Fine Gael whose Michelle Mulherin lost her seat.

There was wild cheering and crowd renditions of The West Awake! and The Fields of Athenry from Fianna Fáil supporters at the count centre in Castlebar amid roars of Up Fianna Fáil! as it became clear that Ms Chambers would beat Ms Mulherin to the final seat.

After the results were announced, three of the candidates, Mr Ring, Mr Calleary and, first to speak Ms Chambers, thanked their supporters and extolled the value of democracy. All promised to serve their constituents faithfully.

Ms Chambers is aged 29 and one of Fianna Fáil’s bright rising stars. A protege of party leader Micheal Martin, she is a barrister and strong supporter of women in politics.

Wild cheers greeted Ring’s re-election, with the successful candidate being hoisted immediately onto the shoulders of supporters for the traditional excited bouncing up and down as clapping drowned out the voice of the returning officer, Fintan Murphy.

Taoiseach

Mr Kenny conceded that the electorate has rejected a return to office of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition.

“It is perfectly obvious that the government of Fine Gael and Labour cannot be returned to government,” he said.

Asked if such a stable government might involve Fianna Fáil, he said: “I’m not going to talk about any of the options that are open right now.”

He also conceded that the emerging election results were a blow to Fine Gael but expressed determination that the party would be a part of whatever government emerged after all the results were in.

“I want to make it clear that I expect that the Fine Gael party will be a large block in the next Oireachtas and from that point of view, my responsibility as Taoiseach is to work to see that our country has a stable government and that it has a government that can continue the work on the progress that we’ve made over the last couple of years in bringing the benefits of a recovering economy to all our people.

Asked if he would remain as party leader, he said: “I have a duty and responsibility to work with the decision that the people have made and provide the country with a stable government and that I intend to do fully and completely.”

He attributed the election failure to people who in 2001 had felt too “ashamed” to vote for Fianna Fáil had no such inhibition this time.

Arriving earlier at the count centre, Mr Ring said: “We are where we. The people have spoken and we have to listen.”

“You’d have to be a magician to know what’s going to happen because the numbers game is not adding up for anybody at the moment,” he said, speaking through the cheers of Fine Gael supporters.

Asked if Mr Kenny should remain as party leader he said: “As long as Enda Kenny is Taoiseach, he’ll have my full support.”

On the prospects of talks with Fianna Fáil and going into government with them, he said: “The leaders of all the political parties will have to look at each other and we’ll have to see what’s going to happen. We’ll certainly have to have talks with ourselves within Fine Gael and decisions will be made after that.”

Local issues

The issues are the same as in many other western constituencies. Connectivity is patchy, both on the road network and on broadband. The Western Rail corridor isn’t going to happen any time soon, although there has been a much-needed upgrade to the N5. It is slowly completing its journey to being a decent national route. Another huge local issue is Castlebar General Hospital, where the battleground will be budgets and the retention of services.

Knock Airport is another big local piece of infrastructure and there have been demands for more investment here. The county has done well from tourism, with numbers up due to the Greenway and the Wild Atlantic Way. But jobs remain relatively scarce outside the bigger and most prosperous towns. Emigration from the county remains high.