Longford–Westmeath


Longford–Westmeath is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects five deputies on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. It contains all of County Longford and County Westmeath.

History and boundaries

The constituency existed from 1921 to 1937 and from 1948 to 1992, but was abolished for the 1992 general election. It was re-created by the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005 which gave effect to the 2004 Constituency Commission Report on Dáil Constituencies, and has been in use since the 2007 general election.
From 2007 until 2024, it was a four-seat constituency, with part of County Westmeath around Castlepollard and Delvin in the Meath West constituency. It was then defined as:
The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2023 defines the constituency as:
In the Constituency Review Report 2023, the Electoral Commission recommended that the electoral divisions of Westmeath in the Meath West constituency should be transferred to Longford–Westmeath, thereby making the constituency comprise the entire counties of Longford and Westmeath for the first time since 1981. It was also allocated an additional seat to become a five-seat constituency.

Elections

2016 general election

Final result following a recount.

2014 by-election

Fine Gael TD Nicky McFadden died on 25 March 2014. A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 23 May 2014, the same date as the 2014 European and local elections, and a by-election in Dublin West. The seat was won by Gabrielle McFadden, sister of the deceased TD.

1977 general election

1970 by-election

Fianna Fáil TD Patrick Lenihan died on 11 March 1970. A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 14 April 1970.

1933 general election

1930 by-election

Fianna Fáil TD James Killane died on 26 April 1930. A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 13 June 1930.

1923 general election

Michael Gallagher notes that newspapers at the time were not consistent with the exact figures of the first count so there may have been slight differences to the below. Full figures for the second to the ninth counts are unavailable. The order of eliminations was O'Farrell on 138 votes, Carrigy 735, Groarke 924, Philips 1,203, Gavin 1,244, Redmond 1,396, Victory 1,851, Wilson 2,689 and Garahan 2,793.