Cork East constituency profile: Sinn Féin fancy their chances as Labour lose retiring vote-getter

Outgoing TDs: David Stanton (FG – retiring), James O’Connor (FF), Seán Sherlock (Lab – retiring), Pat Buckley (SF)
Who are the candidates running in the Cork East constituency? Deputy Pat Buckley (SF), Deputy James O’Connor (FF), Cllr Noel McCarthy (FG), Cllr Deirdre O’Brien (Fianna Fáil), Cllr William O’Leary (Ind), Cllr Liam Quaide (SD), Mona Stromsoe (Aon), Mark Stanton (FG), Clíona O’Halloran (GP), Kathryn Bermingham (Ind Ire), James Peter O’Sullivan (TIP), Cllr Mary Linehan Foley (Ind), Frank Roche (Ind), Asch Ní Fhinn (PBP)
On the back of a Sinn Féin surge in 2020, Pat Buckley swept the boards and took the first seat with 23 per cent of the first-preference vote. But he had been considered vulnerable before that election, after he took the fourth and last seat in 2016. He’s not nailed on to hold his seat, but party organisers fancy his chances.
Despite having a smaller first-preference vote than his party colleague Kevin O’Keefe, Fianna Fáil’s James O’Connor pipped him to the post in 2020 because he was, ultimately, more transfer-friendly. O’Connor has not had a massively high profile in recent years, however, despite being unafraid to criticise the party at times.
Fianna Fáil is quietly hopeful of making gains across Cork on the back of the popularity of leader Micheál Martin, and in Cork East they will run Fermoy Councillor Deirdre O’Brien in the hope of gaining a seat. There is a complicating factor for the party though: Councillor William O’Leary, who is running as an Independent, left Fianna Fáil citing the “failure” of the party to “listen to ordinary people.”
Fine Gael’s David Stanton took his seat on the eighth count after picking up a slew of transfers from his eliminated colleague Pa O’Driscoll. This time, Stanton’s son Mark is standing, alongside Cllr Noel McCarthy from the northern half of the constituency. The party had one quota here with two candidates in 2020 and there is one seat, but maybe no more, this time, unless the Simon Harris’s “new energy” waves continue throughout the campaign, in which case they might just both scratch over the line.
It’s bad news for the Labour Party here, as they lose established vote-getter and party stalwart Seán Sherlock, who is retiring after more than two decades in the political arena. He made the decision after the Electoral Commission’s review of boundaries shifted his main support base of Mallow into Cork North Central. The party has yet to name a candidate here, and sources say they may not do so. Could some of those loose Labour votes float towards candidates like Cllr Liam Quaide of the Social Democrats?
The big issues in this constituency centre around infrastructure, transport, business supports and the cost-of-living.
Possible outcome: Fine Gael (1), Fianna Fáil (1), Sinn Féin (1), Independent OR Soc Dem (1)