There were six independent candidates: Gary Bermingham, a satirical actor and artist; Benny Cooney, a FÁS employee; Brendan Doris, an architect; Barry Caesar Hunt, a contestant in The Apprentice reality television show in 2010; John Frank Kidd, a retired fire officer; and Jim Tallon, a farmer.[3][4][11]
Donnelly, McGuinness, Nulty and O'Gorman had all been unsuccessful candidates in this constituency at the general election in February 2011.[12] Bermingham, Cooney, Ó Ceallaigh and Tallon had been candidates in other constituencies at the same election.[4]
A full recount was ordered after only 18 votes separated Socialist Party candidate Ruth Coppinger from Fianna Fáil candidate David McGuinness.[16] After the recount, both McGuinness and Coppinger had the same number of votes in the fourth count. Under electoral law Coppinger was eliminated, for McGuinness had more first-preference votes.[17][18]
It was the first time since July 1982 – when Noel Treacy won a seat in Galway East – that a candidate of a governing party won a by-election.[19] The result left Fianna Fáil with no TDs in Dublin city and County.[20]
^O'Halloran, Marie (29 October 2011). "Labour wins Dublin byelection". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 30 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
