'No greater feeling in politics' Heydon reacts to topping Kildare South

Martin Heydon tops poll in Elections first count Fine Gael’s Martin Heydon was delighted at topping the poll for Kildare South at this year’s general election.

“It's a lovely feeling to top the poll again. I topped it in 2011 and 2016 and I won the second seat last time. It won't happen tonight, but tomorrow I will be elected for four terms. If someone had told me that back when I first was elected at 32 years of age, I would have never believed it.

“In a way, when you serve for a while, it's nearly more satisfying than the first time, because the first time they're taking a chance on you, and at this time you really feel they're voting based on your track record. There’s no greater feeling in politics.” Speaking about his win and why he thinks he topped the poll, he said: “I'm really grateful to the people who voted and trust me. I think it's down to that I have a really great team in my office. Rosemary and Mary have been with me from the word ‘go’ since 2011, and through that office, we have supported our councillors.

“I pride myself on working really closely with my big councillors across Kildare South, and I think we deliver really well for the communites on both on a local level and on a national level, and we got a lot of feedback with those six councillors who were all very successful in the local elections only a few months ago, so we had a platform to build on.” For the next government, Martin wants to prioritise political engagement on both a local and national level.

He said: “The last term was my first time to serve as a government minister, as a minister of state, and that is a different dynamic. It means you're mixing the local with the national, and again, the predecessors in that role, to me, all lost their seat in the previous two elections, so I was aware it can be a danger, because it brings you out of your constituency, but my priority is on the local and the national.

“It's on making sure I can contribute for our country, hopefully play some role in the next government, and also then to use that, while doing the best for our country, to use that for the betterment of Kildare. I'm really ambitious for Kildare. I want to make it an even better place to live, to work, and to visit, and to raise a family in. It's my home, it's somewhere I'm really proud of.” Minister Heydon planned to celebrate topping the poll with his number one supporters, his wife and children.

He said: “I have four little children here, who have seen very little of me for the last four or five weeks, and my wife has been amazing in holding the fort at home, so I promised them a lot of catch-up time, so we’ll celebrate together as a family. And I have a lot of neighbours and friends at home, so there will be a couple of pints out at some stage as well.”