Mr Ennis won on the 9th count after receiving transfers from Janet Horner of the Green Party, to bring him to a total of 12,050, placing him ahead of Sinn Féin's Janice Boylan, at 7,787.
Fianna Fáil candidate Mr Stephens was excluded in the second count after receiving only 4% of first preference votes, which the Taoiseach admitted was a 'poor result' for the party.
This low result comes as no shock for Fianna Fáil, with Darragh O'Brein stating “It’s obviously a difficult constituency for us – it’s one of only three in the country that we didn’t win in the last general election."
The 38 year old family man, Daniel Ennis has been working in politics for the last 3 years. He has said that the rise of anti-immigrant beliefs in Dublin drove him into politics, in order to nullify these views. Ennis was previously a League of Ireland Football player and there is hope that his tenacity will carry over from pitch to the Dáil.
As a new TD Mr Ennis has said that he is "driven by a desire to do better,". Ennis has said that he will be an "honest" and "hardworking" TD.
As a Councillor his focus was on; the housing crisis, tackling poverty, and increasing Gardaí presence to ensure safety.
It is alleged that Ennis's father had ties to Gerry "the Monk" Hutch, and was a suspected gang member. Ennis has talked openly about this stating “Anything I know of my dad’s past and, kind of, criminal past, would have been through a newspaper,”
The 7th count of Galway west has been announced.
Noel Thomas for Independent Ireland is currently in the lead with 12,947 votes. He is closely followed by Seán Kyne of Fine Geal at 11,114.
Count 8 has just begun and will be distributing Independent Mike Cubbard's votes so far.
Fine Geal remain hopeful stating that they are "confident" that Fianna Fáil transfers will be beneficial to Seán Kyne.
