Sinn Fein Candidate Celebrates as Party Makes Gains in Irish Election

Sinn Féin candidate Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire became the first TD elected to Ireland’s 33rd Dáil on February 9, as the party was set to make major gains in the election.

In this video, Ó Laoghaire can be seen celebrating as he is lifted on the shoulders of supporters who sang “On the One Road,” an Irish rebel song.

An exit poll – conducted by Ipsos/MRBI on behalf of RTÉ, The Irish Times, TG4 and UCD – predicted the vote was split in a three-way tie between Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s party, Fine Gael, at 22.4 percent, Fianna Fail at 22.2 percent, and Sinn Fein at 22.3 percent, the highest percentage of support in its history.

Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, the two parties that have dominated Irish politics since the formation of the state, have ruled out forming a government with Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

However Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said on Sunday that her party was ready to enter government and excluding it from talks would be undemocratic. Credit: Conor McGreevy via Storyful