Rose thrilled to make history in dramatic Mayo election

Sinn Féin's Rose Conway Walsh has expressed delight after creating history as the first female candidate to head the poll in the Mayo constituency.

She narrowly missed out on that distinction in the 2020 election when she attracted 14,633, narrowly short of Michael Ring's performance of 14,796.

There was no stopping the Ballycroy native on this occasion with her 10,117 return.

Although it was some way short of her previous effort, the fact her party changed its strategy from a one-candidate to a two-candidate approach was a factor in the drop.

She said: "It's an honour for me and I am very thankful for the trust the electorate placed in me.

"It was against the odds to achieve that because we had two candidates this time and the field was very competitive

"I worked very hard over the past five years and I intend to do the same in the next term.

"I take my job as a TD very seriously and that will always be my approach."

Asked what statement her poll-topping performance made for Sinn Féin in the county, she said: "It was something we could only dream off not many years ago.

"When I came back from London to Mayo, Sinn Féin was standing at 3% in the county and we have worked solidly over the past two decades to bring up our support base at 19.4%

"I thank all our members who came out in the dark of November evenings to canvass for me and Gerry.

"We would not have got there without them."

She was accompanied in the count centre by her sons Anthony and Peadar, both thrilled by their mother's success.