11 March 2005 2007 → 16,964 16,117 34.1 32.4 Start date March 11, 2005 | Turnout 50,183 (41.5%) 16,117 5,567 32.4 11.2 | |
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Winner Shane McEntee | ||
On 31 October 2004, the Teachta Dála (TD) for Meath, John Bruton, officially resigned as a member of Dáil Éireann to take up his new position as European Union Ambassador to the United States. His resignation resulted in the need for a by-election. As Bruton was a Fine Gael member, that party had the responsibility of deciding when the by-election should take place.
Tommy Reilly, the original Fianna Fáil candidate, was forced to stand down due to some land rezoning.
On 15 February 2005 the campaign began in earnest when it was announced that polling would take place on 11 March. Seven candidates contested the vacant seat, with victory going to the Fine Gael candidate, Shane McEntee.
On the same day, a by-election took place in Kildare North.
References
Meath by-election, 2005 Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA