Fianna Fail have secured two seats in Clare with the election of Cathal Crowe TD and Timmy Dooley TD.

In a feat not pulled off since the 2007 General Election, Fianna Fáil have recorded a seat gain by taking two seats after the party increased its share of the vote by four points to 38 per cent.

Poll-topper, Deputy Dooley returns to the Dáil after missing out in 2020. He said: “What is particularly good today is to win two seats. We tried to do that the last time and failed. It was a strategy I developed at the time and I was a casualty of it.”

Two first time candidates have won the remaining two seats. Grandfather to three, Joe Cooneywill enter the Dáil for Fine Gael and Shannon town based transfer-friendly Donna McGettigan has secured a seat for Sinn Fein.

The story of the 2020 election in Clare was then complete unknown, Violet Anne Wynne (Independent) topping the poll for Sinn Féin taking 15 per cent of first preferences.

Running as an independent after resigning from Sinn Féin in 2022, Deputy Wynne’s vote collapsed securing only 310 first preferences - or just 0.5 per cent of votes.