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Aby-election was held in theDáil ÉireannMeath constituency inIreland on Friday, 11 March 2005. It followed the resignation ofFine GaelTeachta Dála (TD)John Bruton on 31 October 2004 to take up his new position asEuropean Union Ambassador to theUnited States.
Tommy Reilly, the original Fianna Fáil candidate, was forced to stand down due to some land rezoning issues.[1]
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 theFine Gael candidate,Shane McEntee.[2]
On the same day, a by-election took place inKildare North, both were the final occasions which theProgressive Democrats contested by-elections.
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||
| Fine Gael | Shane McEntee | 34.1 | 16,964 | 17,083 | 18,214 | 24,047 | |
| Fianna Fáil | Shane Cassells | 32.4 | 16,117 | 16,230 | 17,480 | 21,178 | |
| Sinn Féin | Joe Reilly | 12.3 | 6,087 | 6,183 | 6,514 | ||
| Labour | Dominic Hannigan | 11.2 | 5,567 | 5,672 | 7,061 | ||
| Progressive Democrats | Sirena Campbell | 5.4 | 2,679 | 2,746 | |||
| Green | Fergal O'Byrne | 3.2 | 1,590 | 1,744 | |||
| Independent | Liam Ó Gogáin | 1.4 | 702 | ||||
| Electorate: 121,041 Valid: 49,706 Spoilt: 477 (0.9%) Quota: 24,854 Turnout: 50,183 (41.5%) | |||||||
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