Fianna Fáil was always going to be under pressure to hold three seats, and when its vote fell by more than four points to 44.28 per cent, it needed exceptional vote management to ensure its last-placed candidate John Dennehy didn't lose his seat.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin topped the poll with 19 per cent of the vote to take a seat on the first count, but the real surprise on the Fianna Fáil side was the performance of newcomer Cllr Michael McGrath.
McGrath, from Carrigaline, more than doubled his local election vote of 2004 to win 9,866 first preferences, joining Martin in exceeding the quota on the first count.
Fine Gael had fared disastrously here in 2002 with just 19.4 per cent of the vote, but the party's three-candidate strategy worked well this time. It increased its vote share to 28.41 per cent, with third-placed Cllr Jerry Buttimer providing the transfers to elect Deirdre Clune and Simon Coveney.
Perhaps the biggest talking point, however, was the failure of the Green Party's Dan Boyle to hold his seat. He lost out to Labour newcomer Cllr Ciarán Lynch, who regained the seat once held by Labour's Toddy O'Sullivan.
Lynch increased the Labour vote by almost four points to 9.25 per cent - enough to stay ahead of Boyle and benefit from his transfers.
Boyle attributed his defeat to a combination of McGrath eating into his vote in the Lower Harbour area and the battle to convince voters that his was not a safe seat.
Overall change: FG and Labour gain; FF and Green Party loss
Outgoing TDs
Micheál Martin FF
Batt O'Keeffe FF
John Dennehy FF
Simon Coveney FG
Dan BoyleGP
