Mayo TD claims election outcome shows Irish democracy is 'in crisis'

Mayo TD Paul Lawless has stated the story of yesterday's presidential election will not be written solely in the figures beside each candidate’s name.

He elaborated: "The truest and most telling figure of all is that the most represented part of the results are the unrepresented.

"When the unrepresented become the majority, democracy itself stands in crisis. And make no mistake - that crisis is what we have witnessed.

"We have seen record numbers of our fellow citizens remain at home, disengaged.

"We have seen a record number of spoiled ballots - a silent yet deliberate act of protest.

"Even before we account for the Gavin vote - which, in its own right, represents a form of spoil - the rejection of the political establishment has reached historic heights.

"When one adds those votes together, the message becomes unmistakable: the people are not being heard.

"The biggest gap is not between Connolly and Heather; it is between the system and the people.

"The largest number on the board is not Connolly’s, nor the margin between her and Heather - it is the number of men and women who found no one they could, in good conscience, vote for.

"The election did not merely reveal a winner. It revealed a crisis of democracy.

"The loudest voice in Ireland tonight is the silence of those who refused to be complicit in a politics that no longer speaks for them. That silence is roaring - and the country must listen.

"For if democracy ceases to represent, it ceases to function."