Keogh ready to fill Ring's boots after election victory

Newly elected Westport-based Fine Gael candidate Keira Keogh says she is looking forward to stepping into the boots of Michael Ring after her election to Dáíl Éireann.

The results of the eleventh and final count elected both Keira Keogh and Aontú candidate Paul Lawless to fill the last two seats in the Mayo constituency.

The strong performance of Keogh surprised many political observers given that she failed to get elected to Mayo County Council in June's local elections.

Keogh secured 8 percent of the vote in the election picking up 5,830 first preference votes and picked up sufficient transfers along the way to be elected comfortably with 12,475 votes.

Speaking at the count centre in the TF Royal Theatre in Castlebar, Keogh, who worked as a self employed children's behaviour consultant in Westport, said that she is proud to be able to hold the Fine Gael seat in Westport.

“I am feeling very grateful to everyone who has voted for me and very proud to be able to keep that constituency office open for the people of west Mayo and to have all the clinics Michael used to hold up and running again.

“I am so proud of everybody from Westport who came out and understood the message. It is difficult when you are a new face on the ballot paper and you are not a local councillor for people to put that trust. When Michael put his trust in me and when people see my family background in the Helm in Westport they know we work hard. They know I have a good reputation with my own business of working with neurodiverse children and people had the belief I could do it and I am so grateful to them that they got behind me,” she said.

Keogh stressed that having the support and backing of Michael Ring was pivotal to her election success and keeping his seat was a motivating factor during the campaign.

“It was crazy pressure. I kept thinking about the two black doors in Michael's office and I visualised them closed and I visualised keeping them open. I also visualised Michael's office in Leinster House which I visited. Any moment in the campaign if I felt tired I knew I had to keep pushing forward because there were so many people depending on me but that pressure was great to have,” she added.

Michael Ring served as a TD for Mayo since 1994 before deciding not to contest this General Election.He said that he had great faith in Keogh and praised his election team for getting her over the line.

“It is even better than myself getting elected. I have put everything into this campaign. I was out with her every single day except for one day during the campaign and I have to say I could see her growing every single day and I knew we were in with a chance.

“I knew we were in with a chance once we got the organisation up and rallied. Peter Flynn and myself with John Murphy, the Director of Elections put everything into this for her. She was an easy candidate to sell because she has a wonderful personality and is very bright and she performed very well. I am very proud of her and the happiest man in Mayo today,” Ring said.