*Violet-Anne Wynne (IND). Photograph: John Mangan
DURING HER five year political career, Violet-Anne Wynne (IND) has left an impression and she created further history in her second General Election campaign.
Wynne received the lowest ever return for a sitting TD in Clare in the thirty five General Elections held in Clare since the formation of the State.
Her vote crashed as she recorded a 8,677 drop in votes compared with the 2020 General Election when she topped the poll when running for Sinn Féin. She subsequently left the party in February 2022 and claimed she was subject to “psychological warfare” while serving as a member.
As the February 2020 poll topper, she had 8,987 first preferences on the first count.
When bidding to retain her seat, Violet-Anne had 310 first preference votes which was less than the 385 votes she received among an electorate of 18,104 when running for Sinn Féin in the Kilrush LEA for the 2019 local elections.
For the latest campaign, the Offaly native did not have a visible campaign with no posters or election literature. She was not present in the count centre on Saturday or Sunday and has since deleted her political pages on social media.
She described herself as the “tried and trusted” Independent TD in social media posts in advance of polling day when trying to win over voters.
Speaking on The Electoral Chair, communications consultant, Mark Dunphy said of the historic loss of votes. “They will be studying this in political classes in universities across Ireland for decades to come because it was exceptional. It is not for us to sit here and discuss Violet-Anne’s failings or otherwise on why she didn’t get more than that, it is impossible to tell, how long is a piece of string”.
Director of Elections with Fianna Fáil, Gerry Reidy stated, “I had a perception that her office was functioning as a TD’s office would and that she would have had connections and linkages into people who she looked after but that doesn’t seem to have panned out but whatever she was doing was not effective and it did not translate into support”.
Similarly in Kildare, Patricia Ryan (IND) who was elected in February 2020 while on holidays and left Sinn Féin in October 2024 also lost her seat. She recorded a 93 percent drop in votes when she obtained 678 first preferences.
