From Togher on Cork’s Southside, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (35) put his first unsuccessful electoral outing in 2009 behind him when five years on he was elected to Cork County Council for the Carrigaline-Ballincollig Electoral Area in 2014 on the first count with 2,567 votes

A fluent Gaeilgeoir, he followed that up with an impressive performance in his first Dáil bid, winning 6,986 votes to take the third seat in then four seat Cork South Central.

Last time out, he topped the poll, ahead of Fianna Fail’s Micheál Martin and Michael McGrath and Fine Gael’s Simon Coveney

A former Scout leader with the 5th Cork troop and a member of St Finbarr’s Hurling and Football Club, Mr Ó Laoghaire, who has a law degree from UCC, served as a political advisor to several Sinn Féin TDs in the early 2000s.

He lives in Togher with his wife Eimear Ruane McAleer and their three children.