John Cummins of Fine Gael has been elected to serve Waterford in the 34th Dail.
The former senator was unsuccessful when seeking election in 2020 - but having received 10,376 first preference votes - Cummins has now reached the quota of 10,731 votes from transfers to be elected on the ninth count.
Fine Gael have traditionally always held a seat in the constituency - with Cummins being the son of former Waterford TD, Maurice Cummins.
John Cummins previously served on Waterford City and County Council before going on to the Seanad in 2020 - and will now become a TD.
Cummins will be the most senior Fine Gael TD in the South East region.
Speaking to WLR, he said: "People spoke about disunity in Fine Gael in Waterford - but that couldn't be any further from the truth now. This project started five years ago - not five weeks ago. There has been 100% unity and that has clearly paid off for us. I really would like to thank everyone who has assisted on the campaign over the last number of years. I couldn't have done it - this is not one individual, it's not about me, it's not about Fine Gael - it's about everybody. It was just an amazing experience to be part of such a team and I do have to thank my wife Inga who was out every day and night and supporting me all the way through."
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