Elaine Loughlin: Memories of austerity years have faded for Labour with MEP win
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As trestle tables were being dismantled and loaded onto pallets, sporadic claps and cheers rose up from a group who lingered at the RDS count centre.
While the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald made a quick exit after the 19th count that saw their party candidates elected, members of the Labour party wanted to savour the moment.
"What this does for us tonight as a party cannot be understated," senator Marie Sherlock told a group of around 40 colleagues who surrounded her and newly minted MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin.
Labour now hope that the breakthrough of Ó Ríordáin and his "for the love of Dublin" campaign signals the first green shoots for a party that has languished in the polls since the 2016 election.
For many of the dedicated party members who have continued to volunteer on canvasses and tallies throughout the tough years, the time in power with Fine Gael is still a raw subject to broach.
"If we had not gone into the Government, we would now be in a very different place," one long-time grassroots member said on Saturday, before questioning why Labour are still being punished for the actions of that austerity coalition — while Fine Gael appears to have the shaken off the backlash.
However, there was an new sense of positivity in the vast RDS count centre on Tuesday night.
Relief washed across Ó Ríordáin's face as he told the media scrum that it had been a "rough" number of years.
"But we've won, it's been a very emotional year for me. I lost my dad as a year ago, and that really motivated me a lot.
"To win again for Labour means we're back and we're going to win even more as the general election comes into focus."
He credited the by-election success of party leader Ivana Bacik as changing the entire dynamic of the party.
"She showed that, with a level of integrity in politics and an unwavering belief in social justice, we can win again."
The austerity years may have been a weight that has tied Labour down since its exit from Government almost a decade ago, but memories fade and those too young to have formed a tainted view are now maturing.
It was a point made ahead of the elections by Eoghan Kenny, who was elected in the Mallow area on the first count.
The 24-year-old was only 11 when the catastrophic water charges proposal was brought forward by the Fine Gael-Labour coalition.
“People in my generation now — I’m only 24 — you know, 24-year-olds in this country won’t remember water charges as something to describe the Labour Party by," he said.
As the RDS hall cleared out, Ó Ríordáin told the remaining huddle of party supporters: "It matters when we win, and it matters when we lose."
"We have won today and look what we have stopped," he added to cheers and applause.
However, just like the far-right, which appeared on ballot papers under myriad banners, the left is splintered.
To make real gains, those to the left of the political divide will need to consolidate.
It was a point that was acknowledged by Bacik at the RDS, who spoke about "collaboration" with like-minded parties.
"We need to align ourselves as a grouping, as a movement on the centre-left, on the progressive left, and in the environmentalist movement because we know and we've seen — unfortunately across Europe — the rise of the far-right we know what we're up against."
The possibility of merger between Labour and Social Democrats is a question constantly raised in interviews with both party leaders. For now both are maintaining their own independence.
As well as Ó Ríordáin's European seat, the Labour party have returned 56 local councillors. Holly Cairns's party have secured 35 local seats across the country. Converging would provide a strong political entity on the left.