Election 2016 has seen the resurgence of the Green Party, with Deputy Leader Catherine Martin already elected.
After a stint as Fianna Fáil's junior coalition partner, the Party lost all its seats in the 2011 election - resulting in no Green TDs in the last Dáil.
Now the Party is once again polling well and two of its TDs have been elected.
Deputy Leader Catherine Martin was elected on the sixth count in Dublin Rathdown with a total of 9,421 votes. She was just behind Fine Gael's Josepha Madigan's 9,488 votes and nearly 1,000 votes ahead of Fine Gael's Alan Shatter - who lost his seat.
The surprise result is a major upset for Fine Gael and a huge gain for the small party.
I am honoured and delighted to be your new Green voice in #DublinRathdown #GE16
Míle buíochas!— Catherine Martin (@cathmartingreen) February 27, 2016
Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan was also elected in Dublin Bay South after topping the poll on the 7th count. He received 8,788 votes in total, benefiting from transfers from Sinn Féin's Chris Andrews.
Honoured to be 1st elected in Dublin Bay South. Here's a link showing how it worked. #ge16 https://t.co/74C5HBFDVx pic.twitter.com/3wduZKSAA2
— Eamon Ryan (@EamonRyan) February 28, 2016
