Brooks “devastated” and “crushed” after narrowly missing out

Sam Brooks (18) failed to secure the final seat in the Athlone electoral area of Roscommon, narrowly missing out to Fine Gael's Domnick Connolly.

The Sinn Féin candidate said that he was “beyond devastated” and “absolutely crushed” that he lost out on the seat, less than 40 votes behind Connolly. Despite this, Mr Brooks said that was “absolutely delighted” with how his campaign went and “proud” of his result. “I don't think anyone was expecting us to pull off quite what we managed especially with such a poor result for the party nationwide.”

He added that 1,100 people put their trust in him to represent them which he called a ”true honour and privilege."

Had he been elected, Mr Brooks potentially would have been the youngest candidate in the country and he is optimistic about pursuing a career in politics in the future saying that he would be “99 per cent positive” that his name will be on the ballot paper again in five years time.

Speaking about the main issues he heard from voters while canvassing, the Taughmaconnell native said that the decline of rural communities was prevalent with post offices, nursing homes and garda stations closing in recent times along with the ongoing issue of flooding in Lough Funshinagh.

Mr Brooks thanked his parents Ollie and Paula for their “extraordinary” support over the past few months and said that he has been inundated with messages of support from family, friends and the local community. “People came out and they did support me and they were coming back to me and saying that they're glad they did and that it was a very good campaign.”

Mr Brooks concluded that this election race wasn't the end for him in politics. “The people have endorsed a programme of tackling the massive issues in our communities and I will be seeking election again to tackle them. Next time we will get across the line. Thanks again to everyone for all their support, for now I will take a few days to recover and hopefully do some new job hunting.”

The South Roscommon man recently completed his first year studying a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Social Policy at Trinity College, Dublin.