Two independent candidates in the general election 2020 have withdrawn a High Court action.

Mattie McGrath and Joe Hannigan brought the proceedings in order to allow Tipperary voters to cast their ballots on Saturday, after the constituency-wide vote was halted following the sudden death of independent candidate, Marese Skehan.

The action was halted when the Minister for Local Government Eoghan Murphy signed a ‘Special Difficulty Order’ to allow voting to go ahead in the five-seat constituency.

The barrister in the case, Micheál P O’Higgins SC, said the issues raised by the case had become moot once the order was signed at midnight on Wednesday.

Following the late Marese Skehan’s death, Tipperary returning officer James Seymour postponed the Tipperary vote under the Electoral Act 1992, meaning that fresh nominations and ballot papers would have to be issued.

Go ahead

The matter was then reviewed by Attorney General Seamus Woulfe, who advised Minister Murphy and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that the ballot should go ahead.

Before this decision, Mattie McGrath TD (Ind), elected in 2007, and Councillor Joe Hannigan (Ind) initiated the proceedings in a bid to ensure that Tipperary voters would choose their TDs on the same day as everyone else in the country.

The proceedings were against the Minister for Local Government, the returning officer, and the State. The case asserted that the decision to postpone was unlawful and in breach of the Irish Constitution.