Fine Gael’s general election candidate for Kerry says the result was not what the they were hoping for.
Billy O’Shea was selected as the Fine Gael candidate, but he failed to retain a seat in Dáil Éireann which was held by the party for 76 years.
This general election saw Fine Gael lose a seat it’s held in the county since 1948.
It’s the first general election that no Fine Gael TD has been returned from any part of Kerry since the party was founded.
Fine Gael opted for a one-candidate strategy in this election, a move which has been criticised by the party’s councillor Bobby O’Connell.
Billy O’Shea lost out on the last seat to Fianna Fáil’s Michael Cahill.
Mr O’Shea says it would have been great to have had a TD for Killorglin, which he says would have been the first since 1981 when Chub O’Connor held the position but it was not meant to be.
He thanked those who voted for, believed in and supported him as well as those who canvassed with him, adding it means a lot and he is heartened by it.
Billy O’Shea says it was not the result they were hoping for, adding let’s see what the future holds.
