And now, some light political relief...

Kildare man and Fine Gael candidate Martin Heydon has been voted the country's sexiest man running in the local elections according to an online survey carried out by Boylesports.

Respondents were asked to rate candidates' sex appeal from 1-10 with 22% of the voters giving Heydon 10 out of 10 for his good looks.

Labour's Cian O'Callaghan was voted the second sexiest with 31% of those surveyed rating him as a 7 or higher while 23% gave new kid on the block Ronan Callely a 6 or more.

Cork man Seamus McGrath was deemed the least sexy with almost half (45%) giving him 1 out of 10 for his sex appeal. Fianna Fáil had a bad run as he was followed closely by Galway West candidate Seamus Kyne and Mayo man Michael Smyth with 36% of respondents giving each the lowest score possible.

"The men don't seem to take as much pride in their election posters as the ladies do," commented Nicola McGeady, Entertainment Spokesperson for Boylesports. "Martin Heydon was the clear winner but after that the ladies really voted towards the other end of the scale."