Alan Kelly has won the Labour leadership contest.
The Tipperary TD beat his party rival, Dublin TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, on Friday night after the votes from the party’s members were counted.
Mr Ó Ríordáin rang Mr Kelly to concede and congratulate him on his victory.
Mr Kelly had been ahead all day in the tallies, roughly 60/40 and Mr Ó Ríordáin was never making any ground as the night progressed.
The two colleagues were the only two contestants in the race to succeed Brendan Howlin, who stood down after Labour’s poor general election result in February.
The party went from seven seats to six and Mr Howlin said it was time for him to stand back and let a younger generation take over the helm of the party.
The election was conducted by postal vote and all the votes were collected in Dublin yesterday before being counted.
The Coronavirus restrictions meant that there was only one person counting the votes, Senior Counsel and Labour legal officer, Conor Power.
He counted the 2,000 votes received in the offices of Mazars accountants and a live video link was set up for the two candidates to keep an eye on proceedings.
Mr Ó Ríordáin accepted defeat and said: “Our party is better for the discussion we’ve all had tonight and we’ll unite to help our country through the crisis and the recovery.”
He added: “I know that Labour’s values are safe in Alan’s hands.”
Mr Kelly said before his victory: “No matter what happens next will unite, be constructive and we will always do right by the country.”
