Waterford's John Cummins has been elected to the Seanad.
The Fine Gael Councillor, who narrowly missed out on a Dáil seat, secured his Seanad seat after the second count of the Labour Panel. He received 92,000 votes on the first count; the second-highest overall and just short of the quota which is 94,417.
He will be following in his father's footsteps. Maurice Cummins was first elected to the Seanad in 2002 and retained his seat until 2016. He served as Leader of the House from 2011 to 2016.
John's party colleague Jerry Buttimer topped the poll.
Speaking shortly after his election Senator Cummins said:
“I am absolutely delighted to be elected to the 26th Senate. It is a tremendous honour to be elected to serve the people of this great country of ours. At this time of crises where we have seen such community spirit and dedication by our frontline workers, I’m looking forward to playing my part in the Upper House to pass the necessary legislation required to help us get through this unprecedented crisis”.
In a sign of the times we are living in and given the restrictions imposed around the movement of the public, John decided not to travel to Dublin Castle and instead watched the proceedings on TV with his wife, while on a zoom conference call with his parents Anne and Maurice.
“While it certainly wasn’t the same as being there in person and being able to hug my mam and dad and celebrate with my family, friends and supporters, it was a good improvised solution”.
#Seanad2020 - Cummins, John Deemed To Be Elected on the 2nd Count of the Labour Panel. #seeforyourself #SeanadElection pic.twitter.com/sQjxg3ZMqr
— Houses of the Oireachtas - Tithe an Oireachtais (@OireachtasNews) April 1, 2020
John Cummins says his election to the senate will be a boost for the party in Waterford saying “It was my belief that it was vitally important for Fine Gael to have an Oireachtas member in Waterford and thankfully that has now come to pass".
"As we know Waterford only has 4 TD’s so having an additional voice standing up for Waterford’s interests can only be a positive thing”
Speaking about the campaign Senator Cummins explained the difficulties encountered “Obviously it has been a very unusual election with the backdrop of COVID-19 but prior to being instructed to cease face to face canvassing on Friday 13th March, I would have travelled around the entire country meeting as many Councillors and Oireachtas members as possible seeking their support. The rest of the campaign was carried out via phone calls and emails which wasn’t the same as sitting down with someone in person but it was unquestionably the correct decision to cease canvassing at that point in time. It honestly feels like months ago at this stage given that so much has changed in such a short space of time”.
He concluded by saying “I’d like to thank everyone that has helped and supported me during this and the previous General Election campaign; in particular my wife Inga. Politics is a huge team effort, it’s not just about one individual; it cannot be done without huge support from many quarters so to all those people - you know who you are; thank you most sincerely, I will not let the people of Waterford down for hard work”.
The second count has been completed for the Labour Panel. Cummins, John has reached a vote value greater than the quota and is deemed to be elected. His surplus will now be distributed to the remaining candidates. #seeforyourself #Seanad2020 pic.twitter.com/u2hTD8sjEV
— Houses of the Oireachtas - Tithe an Oireachtais (@OireachtasNews) April 1, 2020
