2019 Cork North-Central by-election

A Dáil by-election was held in the constituency of Cork North-Central on Friday, 29 November 2019, to fill a vacancy in the 32nd Dáil. It followed the election of Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) Billy Kelleher to the European Parliament.

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2019 Cork North-Central by-election

← 2016 29 November 2019 2020 →
Turnout	25,854 (30.2%)
Nominee Pádraig O'Sullivan Thomas Gould Colm Burke Party Fianna Fáil Sinn Féin Fine Gael First preferences 7,148 5,041 5,385 Percentage 28.0% 19.7% 21.1% Final count 11,633 8,044 -
Cork North-Central shown within Ireland
TD before election Billy Kelleher Fianna Fáil TD after election Pádraig O'Sullivan Fianna Fáil

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The by-election was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate Pádraig O'Sullivan, a member of Cork County Council.

Three other by-elections were held on the same day, in Dublin Fingal, Dublin Mid-West, and Wexford.^[1] The Electoral (Amendment) Act 204 stipulates that a by-election in Ireland must be held within six months of a vacancy occurring.^[2] The by-election writ was moved in the Dáil on 7 November 2019.^[3][4]

At the 2016 general election, the electorate of Cork North-Central was 81,609, and the constituency elected one Fianna Fáil TD, one AAA–PBP TD, one Sinn Féin TD, and one Fine Gael TD.^[5] The 2019 electorate was 85,524 (a 4.8% increase).

Among the by-election candidates were Senator and former MEP Colm Burke; four Cork City Councillors (Thomas Gould, John Maher, Oliver Moran and Fiona Ryan); Cork County Councillor Pádraig O'Sullivan; and three unsuccessful candidates at the May 2019 city council election (Sinéad Halpin. Thomas Kiely, and Finian Toomey). This was the first occasion Aontú (also contested Wexford) and the Social Democrats (also contested Dublin Fingal and Dublin Mid-West) contested by-elections.

In mid-November it was reported that Fine Gael's Dara Murphy would be resigning his seat in the same constituency in December, to become deputy chef de cabinet of European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel. The Irish Times reported regret within Fine Gael that Murphy had not resigned sooner, which would have allowed one single transferable vote by-election to fill both vacancies, increasing the likelihood that Fine Gael would have retained a seat.^[6]