Ian Marshall: Independent unionist loses Seanad by-election

Ian Marshall was the first unionist elected to the Seanad

Independent unionist Ian Marshall has failed in his by-election bid for a seat in the Seanad (Irish senate).

The County Armagh man, a former Ulster Farmers' Union president, lost to Fine Gael's Maria Byrne.

She received overwhelming support from all three coalition government parties - Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party.

Mr Marshall was the first unionist elected to the Republic of Ireland's upper chamber in 2018.

He had been nominated by then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar but failed to retain his seat last April.

He received the support of Sinn Féin in the by-election.

The party said it believed it was important that Northern Ireland had voices in the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) and that unionist perspectives were included.

Mr Marshall got 69 votes while Ms Byrne received 118 votes and replaces Michael D'Arcy, who resigned his seat last year.