EXCLUSIVE: 'Hard work pays off' - Catherine Murphy on Social Democrats success in Kildare

Following their success so far across local elections in Co. Kildare, Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy revealed that the party is aiming for at least six seats across the county.

Saturday saw four Social Democrat councillors elected in Maynooth, Clane, Celbridge and Naas, with Celbridge councillor Claire O'Rourke and Naas councillor Bill Clear winning the most first preferences in their respected districts.

The Social Democrats have achieved roughly 15 per cent of first preference votes in Co. Kildare, which former party leader Catherine Murphy said was "deserved".

"We won four seats in the last councillor elections in Kildare, and I think we've worked solidly as a team," Murphy said.

"We also had some very good new candidates come through. I think our electoral strategy was right about running a single one in each local electoral area. They've just worked very hard and have been quite distinctive in the issues that they've campaigned for".

Following the success yesterday, Murphy revealed that the party looks set to take a seat in almost every electoral area of Kildare.

"We're expecting to take six seats, and possibly seven. And that's what the tallies are telling us, so this is going to be a really good election for us," Murphy said.

The seats are a great achievement for the party, who seemed to have gained a foothold across Kildare. Dismissing her own achievements, Murphy credited the party's popularity in Kildare to her "great team".

"We've worked as a team, and it's been a pleasure to work with and for them over the last five years. Between the incumbent and new candidates coming through, we ran a very solid campaign right across the electoral areas of Kildare.

"It was a multifaceted campaign, involving, door-knocking, campaign leaflets and some social media aswell. Hard work does pay off, and well as being in touch with the right issues, which I think is important".

One issue that Murphy said her party was tackling was local facilities for housing, an issue which she said "came up over and over at the doors right across the county".

"People were telling us that in new housing estate builds or individual homes, there weren't enough facilities built alongside them to support the communities. That was quite a dominant issue, and that is an area that we would we would constantly work on. I'm so happy that people understand that and showed up for us in numbers."