So how did the ULA do?

While the United Left Alliance got five TDs elected, its percentage vote has actually fallen since the disastrous 2007 election.

PERCENTAGES
ULA candidates standing in the 2011 election received the following percentages of first preference votes:
Carlow-Kilkenny 1.5%
Cork N Central 9.2%
Cork NW 3.4%
Dublin Mid-W 7.3% (two candidates: 5.8% + 1.5%)
Dublin N 15.2%
Dublin N Central 3.7%
Dublin NE 2.1%
Dublin s 1.8%
Dublin S Central 12.9%
Dublin SE 1.8%
Dublin SW 5.2%
Dublin W 19.0%
Dun Laoghaire 10.9%
Laois-Offaly 0.8%
Limerick City 1.7%
Sligo-N Leitrim 5.1%
Tipperary S 21.3%
Wexford 1.0%

TDs ELECTED
ULA candidates were elected in:
Dublin N
Dublin S Central
Dublin W
Dun Laoghaire
Tipperary S

AVERAGES
The average percentage for ULA candidates was 6.63%.
The average percentage for the constituent groups of the ULA was:
Workers and Unemployed Action Group 21.3%
Socialist Party 6.24%
Independent (Declan Bree) 5.1%
People Before Profit Alliance 4.82%

COMPARISON WITH 2007
For comparison, we can look at the percentages received in the 2007 election by the groups and candidates who stood for the ULA this time (SP + PBPA + WUAG + Joan Collins, then independent):
Combined average 6.94%
WUAG 14.7%
SP average 7.91%
PBPA average 3.69%
Combined average of PBPA + Collins (who stood for the PBPA this time) 4.61%
Declan Bree did not stand in 2007

OVERALL
So the percentage vote of the groups and candidates in the ULA has fallen by 0.3% between 2007 and now. The WUAG has increased its percentage by a half. The SP percentage has fallen significantly. The PBPA percentage has increased slightly. While the ULA has gone from no TDs to 5, the level of popular support for its political standpoint has stayed the same – in fact, dipped a little.