Louth (Dáil Éireann constituency)

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For other parliamentary constituencies called Louth, see Louth (constituency)

Louth Constituency

Louth is a constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency has an electorate of 81,952 and at present is served by 4 Teachtaí Dála (TDs). The method of election is the Single Transferable Vote. The constituency spans the entire area of the smallest county in Ireland, taking in Drogheda, Dundalk and Ardee.

Louth was a constituency in the first Dáil election in December 1918 when Sinn Féin won by 255 votes, it's narrowest margin of victory in that election. John J. O'Kelly, a native of Kerry resident in Glasnevin in Dublin, was Louth's first TD. The constituency was merged with Meath to form the 5 seat Louth-Meath constituency for the 2nd and 3rd Dála. In 1923 Louth became a 3 seat constituency.

Presently, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern is one of the most high profile TD from the constituency.

[edit] Recent results

2002 General Election: Louth
Candidate		Party	1st Pref	%	Seat	Count
	Dermot Ahern	Fianna Fáil	9,603	20.16	1	1
	Fergus O'Dowd	Fine Gael	5,505	11.56	2	8
	Séamus Kirk	Fianna Fáil	6,495	13.64	3	8
	Arthur Morgan	Sinn Féin	7,121	14.95	4	8
	Frank Maher	Fianna Fáil	4,653	9.77
	Terry Brennan	Fine Gael	4,130	8.67
	Michael Bell	Labour Party	3,185	6.69
	Mary Grehan	Independent	2,384	5.01
	Bernadette Martin	Green Party	1,979	4.16
	Martin Bellew	Independent	1,307	2.74
	Frank Godfrey	Independent	473	0.99
	Aidan Mahon	Independent	294	0.62
	Liam Ó Gogain	Independent	239	0.50
	Peter Short	Workers Party	176	0.37
	Michael Maguire	Christian Solidarity	79	0.17

[edit] Former TDs

[edit] See also

Politics of the Republic of Ireland
List of political parties in Ireland
List of Irish by-elections
Elections in Ireland
O. S. Kelly, 'County Louth: the Irish revolution and the 1918 general election' (MA thesis, UCD, 2006)

Parliamentary constituencies in the Republic of Ireland
Carlow-Kilkenny \| Cavan-Monaghan \| Clare \| Cork East \| Cork North Central \| Cork North West \| Cork South Central \| Cork South West \| Donegal North East \| Donegal South West \| Dublin Central \| Dublin Mid West \| Dublin North \| Dublin North Central \| Dublin North East \| Dublin North West \| Dublin South \| Dublin South Central \| Dublin South East \| Dublin South West \| Dublin West \| Dún Laoghaire \| Galway East \| Galway West \| Kerry North \| Kerry South \| Kildare North \| Kildare South \| Laois-Offaly \| Limerick East \| Limerick West \| Longford-Roscommon \| Louth \| Mayo \| Meath \| Sligo-Leitrim \| Tipperary North \| Tipperary South \| Waterford \| Westmeath \| Wexford \| Wicklow
in use 2007 general election: Longford-Westmeath \| Meath East \| Meath West \| Roscommon-South Leitrim \| Sligo-North Leitrim