2019 Wexford by-election

A Dáil by-election was held in the constituency of Wexford in Ireland on Friday, 29 November 2019, to fill a vacancy in the 32nd Dáil. It followed the election of Independents 4 Change Teachta Dála (TD) Mick Wallace to the European Parliament.

It was held on the same day as three other by-elections in Cork North-Central, Dublin Fingal and Dublin Mid-West.^[1] The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2011 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 Wexford was 109,861, and the constituency elected one Labour Party TD, one Fianna Fáil TD, one I4C TD and two Fine Gael TDs.^[5]

The by-election was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate Malcolm Byrne, a member of Wexford County Council.^[6]

Three of the candidates were sitting Wexford County Councillors; Malcolm Byrne, Jim Codd and George Lawlor. Johnny Mythen was a former Wexford County Councillor while Melissa O'Neill was a former Kilkenny County Councillor.

This was the first occasion the Irish Freedom Party contested any national election as a registered political party and, alongside Cork North-Central, the first time Aontú contested by-elections.

Byrne subsequently lost his seat at the February 2020 general election. His defeat after only 71 days made him the TD with the second-shortest term of service.^[7] Byrne was subsequently elected to the Seanad in April 2020, with Mythen and Murphy being elected to the Dáil in the 2020 general election.^[8]