Politics

Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch vows to stand for election again after missing out on Dublin Central

The alleged crime boss had been tipped to take one of four seats in Dublin Central, but lost to Labour’s Marie Sherlock

Gerry Hutch at RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin
Gerry Hutch at RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA)
By Allan Preston

Alleged crime boss Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch has narrowly missed out on a seat in Dublin Central, but has vowed to run for office again.

Reported to be the head of the Hutch organised crime group, he was recently released on bail after being arrested by Spanish police investigating alleged money laundering.

Shortly afterwards, he confirmed he would be running in the Irish general election for one of four seats in the same constituency as Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.

By Sunday afternoon Ms McDonald, Social Democrat Gary Gannon and Fine Gael Minister Paschal Donohoe had already been elected.

From then on, it was a close race between Mr Hutch and Labour’s Marie Sherlock.

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At one point, Hutch was ahead by 124 votes before surplus votes from Mr Donohoe were distributed.

Arriving to a media frenzy at the Dublin count centre, Mr Hutch seemed unphased as commentators were predicting he would lose out.

Just after 3.30pm, the results finally confirmed that Marie Sherlock was elected.

Mr Hutch finished with an overall total of 5,321 votes, with Ms Sherlock on 6,102.

Speaking briefly to media afterwards, Mr Hutch claimed that he motivated some people to vote for the first time in Dublin and that he intended to run again.

“There was a very short time to do it (but) “they went out and done it”.

When asked by the BBC if he intended to run again, he said: “I have been running all my life, so yes I would go again.”

Finishing with over 3,000 first preference votes, he said: “I expected more to be honest.”

He refused to answer any questions about his reputation as a crime boss, and left the count centre after congratulating Marie Sherlock.

Speaking to RTÉ about Hutch’s popularity, Ms Sherlock said she wasn’t surprised by the “depth of frustration and indeed anger” in her constituency.

“We expected Gerard Hutch to get a decent vote, maybe not to the extent that he did, but it is a reflection as is the vote for me that people want change in terms of how our country is run, they want change in terms of a voice, and ultimately I am absolutely beyond thrilled to be elected now as a TD for Dublin Central,” she said.