Independent TD Shane Ross has said the Irish people have made this General Election “something historic” as they chose to “say goodbye to the main political parties.”
Mr Ross made his comments after became the first TD to be elected to the Dáil after he topped the poll in the three-seat Dublin Rathdown. With the quota at 10,275 in Dublin Rathdown, Mr Ross took 10,202 in the first count, leaving him 73 votes short of the quota.
Following his historic win Mr Ross told reporters: “I think that it’s quite extraordinary what’s happened today,” “We really are seeing something quite historic. I think people are saying goodbye to the main parties,” he added. “We want something fundamentally changed, not tinkering around the edges.”
Mr Ross added the high number of votes for smaller parties and independents, shows that voters “want serious and fundamental changes to what we’ve seen before.”