Losers in campaign for the Dail ....

JOAN BURTON (labour) Dublin West THE Junior Justice and Foreign Affairs Minister was regarded as one of the most enlightened …

JOAN BURTON (labour) Dublin West THE Junior Justice and Foreign Affairs Minister was regarded as one of the most enlightened deputies to have held the overseas development aid brief, but Africa was never going to win her too many votes in West Dublin.

A former minister of state for social welfare. The water charges issue helped to build up the profile of Socialist Party candidate and former Labour member, Joe Higgins, who took a seat. A chartered accountant, Ms Burton worked abroad in Tanzania and ran as a candidate in Dublin Central in 1989. Very active in the 1990 presidential campaign to elect Mrs Robinson.

EITHNE FITZGERALD (Labour) Dublin South THOSE fickle floating voters in Dublin South gave a record number of first preferences to the four times unsuccessful candidate in 1992.

Junior Minister at the Departments of the Taoiseach and Finance, the former economist had a hiccup in government when she and party colleague, Ruairi Quinn, were forced to apologise to the Dail over invitations on semi official Government notepaper to a £100 a plate lunch with the Finance Minister. Last April, she also had to defend her action in writing to the Garda for a constituent whose car had been seized for non payment of road tax.

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She previously worked on social policy with the Department of Finance and the National Economic and Social Council and is author of several reports. She is a daughter in law of former Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach, Dr Garret FitzGerald.

AVRIL DOYLE (FG) Wexford RETURNED in 1992, after a period as Senator, the Minister of State at the Taoiseach's Department says, "Nobody is dead ... I will be back". She must have got used to sitting on that south east see saw with party colleague, Michael D'Arcy, with whom she has been swapping seats, for the last 15 years. A qualified bio chemist, she is an impressive performer, and was once tipped as a potential part leader. Famine commemorations represented her main public brief during this administration. She took the place of Junior Minister Joan Burton on the Government delegation to the fourth UN Women's Conference in 1995, due to Ms Burton's qualms about China's human rights record. MICHAEL McDOWELL (PD) Dublin South East THE party's finance spokesman will lose his seat if the original result stands. The successful barrister and grandson of Eoin McNeill, who is never short of comment, has been down this road before though. He was first elected to the Dail in 1987, ousted in 1989, and returned again in 1992.

HELEN KEOGH (PD) Dun Laoghaire AFTER a big push in 1992 to return her, she knew she had a battle on her hands for the fifth Dun Laoghaire seat, successfully targeted by former Fine Gael TD, Monica Barnes. Fianna Fail's vote management for Mary Hanafin also cost her transfers. A former secondary school teacher and guidance counsellor, she was president of the Women's Political Association in 1985/86 and a Senator.

MAIRIN QUILL (PD) Cork North Central ADMITTING late on Saturday that it would be an "electoral miracle" if she held her seat, Mairin Quill has done a Lazarus act before this time it was not to be. A former secondary school teacher, she was a founder member of the party and was first elected in 1987. She is chairwoman of the parliamentary party and has most recently been spokeswoman on the environment, arts and culture.

PADDY HARTE (FG) Donegal North East A CONTENTIOUS selection convention probably didn't help the Father of the House, who was first elected to the Dail in 1961. The tension between, himself and his running mate, Jim Sheridan, was an open secret. From Raphoe, he is a former junior minister, and has been a member of the British Irish Interparliamentary body since 1993.

MARY FLAHERTY (FG) Dublin North West YET another casualty of Fianna Fail's vote management and the decision to go for two seats in a volatile constituency, Mary Flaherty has been a member of the Dail since 1981. A former secondary school teacher she was a junior minister in Garret FitzGerald's coalition. In opposition, she has been a spokeswoman on social welfare, overseas development, health, energy, and labour affairs. SEAMUS HUGHES (FF) Mayo THE outgoing Mayo West deputy was regarded as vulnerable in the boundary changes. At least one of five sitting candidates was going to lose out. The solicitor and businessman was elected on his first run in 1992, taking the seat left vacant by the retirement of Martin O'Toole, former deputy and senator.

P.J. MORLEY (FF) Mayo TWENTY years after winning his first seat, the likeable former national school teacher was the second victim of the western constituency boundary change, which saw Padraig Flynn's daughter, Beverly Cooper Flynn returned for his party.

BRIAN FITZGERALD (Labour) Meath ONE of Labour's "biggest losses" according to Fianna Fail, which had targeted his seat, in Meath. The former trade union official with SIPTU ran unsuccessfully in 1982 and 1289. A Spring tide beneficiary in 1992, he was a member of several Dail committees, and was an impressive performer at the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation.

JOE COSTELLO Labour Dublin Central THE tireless campaigner for prisoners' rights and former secondary teacher knew his seat had been targeted by Fianna Fail. First elected in 1992, he was unsuccessful 1989 and took a Seanad seat. A former chairman of the Prisoners Rights Organisation and former president of the Association for Secondary Teachers of Ireland.

EAMON WALSH (Labour) Dublin South West ANOTHER Spring tides' surfer. Walsh took a second Labour seat along with Minister, Mervyn Taylor, here at the last election. The former art teacher had been unsuccessful in 1987. In 1992 the constituency was the first ever to return three left wing TDs. Walsh had been tipped as safe this time.

SEAN RYAN (Labour) Dublin North LIKE Walsh, Ryan was described by some political commentators as safe. Yet the shake up in TEAM Aer Lingus in 1994 did Ryan and other Dublin north side colleagues no favours. Ryan and fellow TD, Tommy Broughan, voted against the Government in a TEAM Aer Lingus motion in June 1994, warning that Labour must support the TEAM workers. First elected in 1989 on his fifth attempt.

SEAN KENNY (Labour) Dublin North East FINE Gael had earmarked this Labour seat, which was won spectacularly by Kenny when he topped the poll in 1992. Like Ryan, he was vulnerable to live register variables and the TEAM Aer Lingus troubles. A former executive officer with CIE, he ran unsuccessfully in two general elections. He was Dublin's Lord Mayor from 1991 to 1992.

DECLAN BREE (Labour) Sligo Leitrim "A TEMPORARY affair we intend to be back" pronounced Sligo Leitrim's first Labour deputy and former chair of the Independent Socialist Party, who gave no thanks to the media at the weekend for declaring him safe during this campaign. A socialist thorn in the conservative side of Sligo Corporation for many years, he has contested all Dail elections in this constituency since 1977.

ERIC BYRNE (DL) Dublin South Central RETURNED in the June 1994 by election, Byrne is an energetic deputy who was a victim of the longest recount ever, in this constituency in 1992.

FRANK CROWLEY (FG) Cork North West THE Mallow man with an auctioneering business in Kanturk and Charlevill has maintained a low national profile since he was first elected in 1981. Fine Gael has managed to win two out of ever three seats here since then, but this time, Fianna Fail broke the mould with Michael Moynihan joining outgoing FF deputy Donal Moynihan.

TODDY O'SULLIVAN (Lab) Cork South Central TOPPING the poll with over 9,600 first preferences in 1992, the former TD for Cork, North Central took the southside seat previously held by Eileen Desmond in 1987.

Chairman of the Labour Parliamentary Party since 1989, he was first elected to the Dail at the same time as his leader. Clearly, disappointed late on Saturday night, Mr O Sullivan appealed on RTE television to Dick Spring, to speak out on what he claimed was a sustained attack on Labour by Independent Newspapers during this campaign.

JOHN MULVIHILL (Lab) Cork East THE former Naval Service NCO and plant operator from Cobh lost to David Stanton of Fine Gael, having been elected first time out in 1992. GAA connections weren't enough to hold the seat for Labour, and DL's Joe Sherlock had no luck here either.

TOM FOXE (Ind) Longford-Roscommon A SINGLE issue candidate on health, Foxe was secretary of the Roscommon Hospital Action Committee and was first elected in 1989 for the old three seater of Roscommon. The publican and agricultural adviser was tipped to lose his seat to Fine Gael, which had put up three candidates while Fianna Fail ran four.

LIAM FITZGERALD (FF) Dublin North East FIRST elected in June 1981 but lost his seat in February 1981 to party colleague, Ned Brennan. Then he regained it again that November at Brennan's expense. But though the former national school teacher may have tasted defeat, he wasn't reckoning for the strong performance put in during this campaign by running mate, Martin Brady.

KATHLEEN LYNCH (DL) Cork North Central ARTICULATE campaigner on social welfare issues, Kathleen Lynch left school at 16 worked in the clothing industry, reared four children, and was drawn to politics in 1983 through the National Association of Tenants Organisations.

Cut her political teeth in 1985 local elections, and made history in the 1994 Cork by elections when she crossed the river to run in North Central. She pipped Fianna Fail's Billy Kelleher to the post, and the day the result was announced, the FF Labour administration tell. This time she had to watch Kelleher take the seat.

PAT GALLAGHER (Labour) Laois Offaly SWEPT in in 1992 and quickly established a reputation as a hard working representative. Always the most at risk in this conservative five seater, where Laois doesn't vote for Offaly and vice versa.

Formerly manager of Tullamore Community Training Workshop.

LIAM KAVANAGH (Lab) Wicklow ONE of Labour's wise old men, his loss comes as a blow to the party. Elected for Wicklow back in 1969 he has been minister for labour, environment and tourism, fisheries forestry in coalition with Fine Gael, and was a member of the European Parliament from 1973 to 1981. M.J. NOLAN (FF) Carlow Kilkenny LABOUR's Seamus Pattison had looked the most vulnerable but limped back, while new Fianna Fail candidate John McGuinness was returned at the expense of his party colleague. First elected to the Dail in 1982, to the seat held by Jim Gibbons. A son of a former Labour minister, Tom Nolan he was a Senator in the mid 1980s and was returned again in 1989.

JOHN CONNOR (FG) Longford Roscommon NOT a first time loser, the farm owner and former local government official was a Dail deputy for Roscommon in the 1980s. He is on the county's tourism council.

Lorna Siggins

Lorna Siggins

Lorna Siggins is the former western and marine correspondent of The Irish Times