Candidates spend 130k on byelection

The candidates in May's Longford Westmeath by-election spent over €130,000 trying to win a seat in Leinster House.

Newly released figures from the Standards in Public Office Commission have revealed the election expenses incurred by eight candidates that ran in the by-election brought about by the untimely death of Deputy Nicky McFadden.

Top of the spenders was the Fianna Fail candidate Cllr Aengus O'Rourke. The Athlone based politician spent €37,405 on his campaign.

Poll topper Deputy Gabrielle McFadden's successful election campaign cost €28,799. The Fine Gael deputy was elected to Leinster House with 25.2% of first preference votes.

Labour's Denis Leonard, who entered the race with only a couple of weeks to go after Labour had difficulty securing a candidate, spent €28,096. Mr Leonard, who also lost his council seat in the local elections, was appointed to the board of Bord na Mona in June in one of Pat Rabbitte's last acts as minister for communications.

Cllr Paul Hogan (SF) was the fourth highest spender (€9,282), followed by independent candidates James Morgan (€9,120), Kevin 'Boxer' Moran (€8,826), John McNamara (€6,650) and Brian Fagan (€3,885).

The Sinn Fein man also received €690 in donations, including €100 from the Sheraton Hotel in Athlone. The ninth by-election candidate Donal Jackson did not submit details of his expenses.

John McNamara was the only candidate who submitted expenses not to receive a reimbursement. Under the 1997 Electoral Act, candidates who receive at least one quarter of the quota may apply for a reimbursement of up to €8,700 of their election expenses.

In the European elections, which were also held on May 23, Luke 'Ming' Flanagan topped the polls with 19.2% of the first preference vote in the Midlands North West constituency despite spending only €38,093 on his campaign. The highest spending candidate in the constituency was Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher, who spent €161,428 on his unsuccessful campaign.

Of the successful candidates, Sinn Fein's Matt Carthy (€114,335) was highest spender, followed by Mairead McGuinness (FG, €92,750) and Marian Harkin (Ind, €73,417).