SEANAD ELECTIONS: Labour's Alex White has defended his party's vote pact with Sinn Féin, which helped him top the poll in the Cultural and Educational panel for the Seanad.
The barrister and former RTÉ producer was an unsuccessful Labour general election candidate in Dublin South. He told The Irish Timesthe arrangement with Sinn Féin was "as much a mathematical proposition" as a political one.
"It is an arrangement which has been made all over the country in local authorities. I have been a member of South Dublin County Council since 2004, and we have had Labour, Fine Gael and Green Party mayors elected there with Sinn Féin votes," said Mr White.
"We have voted for Sinn Féin councillors to chair committees. It is not new in terms of setting a precedent."
Mr White said that he would be working towards securing a seat for Labour in Dublin South at the next election. "We had a massive vote there at one time. It is a suburban Dublin constituency where we should have a seat."
Mr White won the first seat on the seventh count, while Fine Gael's Dr Liam Twomey, who lost his Wexford Dáil seat, was elected second on the five-seat panel.
Fianna Fáil, buoyed by support from the PDs and the Green Party, as part of its Seanad strategy, held its three seats on this panel, with a change of personnel. Cecilia Keaveney, who lost her Donegal South West Dáil seat, was elected at the expense of long-serving party colleague Senator Paschal Mooney, while Senators Ann Ormonde and Labhrás Ó Murchú held their seats.
Leitrim-based Mr Mooney, who was first elected to the Seanad in 1987, clearly came under pressure from Ms Keaveney's candidature. He said last night that he intended to continue in politics.
"Politics has been my life. There will be a revision of the constituencies before the next election and I visualise seeking a nomination to run for the Dáil," said Mr Mooney. "I am glad that my votes helped to secure the three seats for Fianna Fáil in the panel."
Although Labour is playing down its pact with Sinn Féin, one Labour source said Sinn Féin councillors had voted with "military precision".
The pact is expected to yield Sinn Féin its first member of the Seanad when Pearse Doherty, an unsuccessful candidate in Donegal South West in the general election, is likely to take a seat in the agricultural panel.
Dr Twomey said he was "delighted to be back. This is my way to keep fighting to get back into the Dáil and to get Fine Gael back into government."
He said his party colleague, Terence Slowey, was just four votes short of securing a second Seanad seat. "We've lost a seat to Labour."
In light of the closeness of the vote, the 14 rejected or spoiled votes for the panel took on extra significance. Four ballots were spoiled because voters did not list a number one choice. One was disregarded because an identification paper had not been enclosed with the vote while nine were rejected because dockets ensuring the ballot was correctly filled were not enclosed.
One Seanad candidate expressed bewilderment at this. "We're professional politicians. We should be able to fill out a ballot paper," he said.
Counting in the university panels begins today and vocational panel counting continues.