He lost his seat in the Cork South West constituency
The Fine Gael candidate lost out on a seat to Social Democrat Holly Cairns, after she picked up over 3,000 transfers on the final count from Sinn Féin's Paul Hayes which saw her leap frog Tim Lombard.
Speaking to RedFM News in the Nemo Rangers count centre this morning Fine Gael's Simon Coveney says this particular defeat is a shock given Fine Gael's track record in the South West:
