Arthur Morgan's supporters could afford to smile at 11am on Saturday when the tallies showed he was certain of a seat, but it wasn't until 1am the next morning that they got the chance to cheer. And when they did, they lifted the roof of the count centre. After the long hours of watching endless transfers and eliminations, the pent-up jubilation erupted in full-throated roars from the leaping throng of republicans. And they kept it up while Arthur was hoisted aloft amid the waving tricolours.
Among the cheering crowd was Paddy Agnew, the last republican TD for Louth, elected in 1981 while a Blanketman in Long Kesh. It had not only been a long day but a long number of years for him to see his seat reclaimed and his delight was clear.
A number of encouraging signs for Sinn Féin did emerge during the wait for a result. Arthur had taken votes from right across the constituency. His areas of strong support - Dundalk, Cooley and North Louth - turned out in force but there was also a good showing from Mid-Louth and Drogheda. He also attracted a lot more transfers than his opponents expected. The Independents, the hospital candidate, the Greens and even the defeated Labour candidate, Michael Bell from Drogheda, all transferred respectably to Sinn Féin. It kept Arthur well ahead of any opponents and he was elected on the last count, just short of the quota.
All this was against the background of a campaign which, in the last week or so, focused on Cooley man Tom Oliver, shot dead over ten years ago by the IRA, who said he was an informer. The local media tried to raise it into a major issue. It was also picked up by the Dublin media. It seemed clear that the voters saw through to the main issues in Louth - Sellafield, health, roads, housing, the peace process, all issues around which Arthur Morgan has done tremendous work on the ground.
As Arthur left the count centre at 1.30am, surrounded by supporters, he experienced the two sides of his future life as a TD. A number of people from the surrounding streets came to congratulate him. Some posed with him for photographs, sensing perhaps that a little bit of history was being made. One woman pushed forward her young son. "He wants to shake your hand," she said. Arthur stopped and exchanged a few words with the boy.
Then he was off to a TV studio, where he was interviewed live with Aengus Ó Snodaigh for RTÉ television. No congratulations, none of the cosy backslapping that usually passes between TV reporters and successful candidates. It was straight into questions about Sinn Féin links with violence and about when the party was going to "fully embrace the democratic process". The two new TDs handled the hostile interview with aplomb, no doubt buoyed up by the fact that the ordinary people, from Dundalk to Ballyfermot, have a much better grasp of what the democratic process really means.
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