Voters in Kildare South elected two first-time TDs to the 34th Dáil in Sinn Féin’s Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh and Mark Wall of Labour.

Poll-topper Martin Heydon (FG) exceeded the quota of 10,734 votes on the 11th count, returning to serve his fourth term as a TD.

Candidates in the four-seater constituency were effectively battling for three seats, by virtue of Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl’s (FF) automatic election.

Mr Wall will, on the third time of asking, take up a seat in the constituency his father Jack served as a TD between 1997 and 2016.

Mr Wall received substantial transfers from Chris Pender (SD), and was elected at the expense of Senator Fiona O’Loughlin (FF). Outgoing TD Cathal Berry (Ind) also missed out.

Ms Ní Raghallaigh, a primary school teacher, was elected just six months after she was first elected to Kildare County Council. She was selected as Sinn Féin’s sole candidate in Kildare South following outgoing TD Patricia Ryan’s resignation from the party.

Ms Ryan ran in the constituency as an Independent. She topped the poll with a 21 per cent share of first-preference votes in the last general election, but was eliminated on the fifth count with just 762 votes this time around.