A left-wing government in Ireland is “within touching distance”, the leader of the Social Democrats has said.Holly Cairns on Monday said her party will work with others on the left to provide voters with “a real alternative” to the current Coalition of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents.The Social Democrats’ candidate in Dublin Central, Daniel Ennis, was elected on Saturday following a byelection last Friday.Ennis, an activist and former League of Ireland footballer, was elected with a final vote of 12,050, well ahead of Sinn Féin’s Janice Boylan who had a final vote of 7,787.Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich, the Social Democrats’ candidate in Galway West, received 3,354 first preference votes and came fourth in the byelection there with Fine Gael’s Seán Kyne securing that seat.The Social Democrats’ win in Dublin Central moves the party on to 12 Dáil seats – one ahead of the Labour Party.[ Fine Gael and Social Democrats land morale-boosting byelection winsOpens in new window ]Cairns said the result showed “there is a real appetite for the kind of politics that the Social Democrats are offering”.Speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, Cairns praised the “incredible” result by Ennis and said Nic Fhionnlaoich coming fourth in a five-seat constituency in her first election was “extremely impressive”.When asked about the fact Nic Fhionnlaoich transferred 552 votes to Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas, who represents a right-wing party with several policies at odds with those of the Social Democrats, Cairns noted that almost 3,900 transfers went to Labour’s Helen Ogbu.“Eighty per cent of Míde’s transfers went to Ogbu, and I think that is a really strong showing of the fact that the ‘vote left, transfer left’ pattern is really good.”Cairns said the byelections and the last general election showed strong transfers among parties on the left but there was still “lots of work to be done” to strengthen that.Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns with Galway West candidate Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich at the count centre in Salthill. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire “We’re lucky with our voting system that people can put their preferences down, and it just goes to show that there is a viable alternative, you know, to have a left government, to have a new style of politics in this country – that is within touching distance at this point.”Left parties including the Social Democrats, Sinn Féin, Labour and People Before Profit worked together as part of the successful campaign to elect Catherine Connolly as President last October.When asked if there would be more co-operation between these parties ahead of the next general election, Cairns said the Social Democrats “will continue to work to strengthen the left”.The Cork South-West TD said her party’s byelection success was “a pivotal moment for the Social Democrats, in terms of being a real alternative”.Cairns said she was “determined to stand a candidate in every constituency in the country, for the first time” in the next general election.