DEFEATED GENERAL Election candidate, Aoife Byrne, has confirmed to the Echo that she will likely run in the next local election.

The first time Fianna Fail candidate secured 3,164 first preference votes at the weekend and lasted until the eight count before being eliminated with 3,585 votes.

However, she expressed satisfaction with her performance given the relatively short time scale in which she campaigned.

“It wasn’t as if this was planned months in advance,” she said.

“I really only had two months to do it so I’m really happy with how I did,” she told the Echo at the count centre on Saturday.

As a result she said she was happy what she achieved.

She also confirmed her intention to run in the next local election “if the opportunity arises”.

Ms. Byrne said she plans to increase her profile in Wexford and, with an eye further ahead, hopes to increase her presence in New Ross.

“It’s obvious in New Ross that there is no representative in the area,” she said, before adding that the district is being “neglected”.

(For the full story see next week’s print edition of the Echo)