Local elections: TDs’ family members elected as Caio Benicio loses out

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

The Finance Minister’s brother and a Tipperary TD’s daughter were among the first batch of councillors elected to local authorities around the country.

With more than 200 candidates elected out of 949, the rough outline indicates Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil holding steady, while Sinn Féin has not made the gains they had hoped for.

One of Fianna Fáil’s candidates in Dublin’s North Inner City area, Caio Benicio, the Brazilian delivery driver who intervened in the Parnell Square attack last November, will not win a seat.

He won just 3 per cent of first preference votes and was one of three Fianna Fáil candidates in the area.

In Cork, Minister for Finance Michael McGrath’s brother Seamus blasted past the quota in the Carrigaline electoral area, winning 5,191 votes, which is more than double the quota.

Having won 36 per cent of first preference votes, the former lord mayor of Cork County could become a Fianna Fáil candidate in the next general election.

Mairin McGrath, who is the daughter of independent Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath, was elected on the first count in the Cahir area of Tipperary County Council.

Roisin Kenny, the sister of Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny, was elected to Leitrim County Council in the early hours of Sunday.