#LE24 live: election count in Clare – Clare Echo

WE’RE live from Treacy’s West County Hotel as we get closer to finding out which of the 59 candidates will be elected to fill the 28 seats on Clare County Council are. 

11:46 – Ennis MD tally of 28/40 boxes

Pat Daly (FF) – 1113
Paul Murphy (FG) – 836
Mary Howard (FG) – 815
Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) – 792
Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) – 742
Tommy Guilfoyle (SF) – 701
Tom O’Callaghan (FF) – 628
Bridget Ginnity (GP) – 410
Hilary Tonge (SD) – 366
Seamus Ryan (LAB) – 254
Amanda Major (IND) – 251
Ruairí Keenan (IND) – 224
Jacek Kazmierz Kwazy (IND) – 54

11:33 – Shannon MD tally (15/36 boxes)
David Griffin (FF) – 883
Donna McGettigan (SF) – 542
Rachel Hartigan (FF) – 465
Tony Mulcahy (FG) – 426
Pat O’Gorman (FF) – 422
John Crowe (FG) – 380
PJ Ryan (IND) – 315
James Ryan (SF) – 256
Keith McNamara (IND) – 242
Michael Begley (IND) – 153
Val Gillane (FG) – 134
John Haugh (AON) – 95
Fursa Cavanagh (GP) – 76
Pat Barry (IND) – 53
Conor O’Brien (IND) – 16

11:11 – Tallies from an Ennis CBS box:

Mary Howard (FG) – 47

Pat Daly (FF) – 42

Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) – 25

Ruairí Keenan (IND) – 25

Tom O’Callaghan (FF) – 21

Bridget Ginnity (GP) – 21

Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) – 19

Hilary Tonge (SD) – 18

Paul Murphy (FG) – 17

Tommy Guilfoyle (SF) – 15

Seamus Ryan (LAB) – 11

Amanda Major (IND) – 4

Jacek Kamierz Kwasny – 0

10:55 – Keith McNamara (IND) satisfied with his initial showing. He’s hopeful an early election for either Tony Mulcahy (FG) or Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) will aid his cause.

10:54 – “Shur the cows haven’t been milked yet,” explains long-serving Fine Gael official Sean Chambers (FG) on the absence of pundit from The Electoral Chair, Joe Melody (FG) at the count centre.

10:50 -Tallies of the top five from one Parteen box:

Val Gillane (FG) – 129

Rachel Hartigan (FF) – 111

Michael Begley (IND) – 46

James Ryan (SF) – 33

Fursa Cavanagh (GP) – 10

10:38 – Another Parteen box has Rachel Hartigan (FF) as the predominant first choice. She is also pulling a lot of votes in Shannon Banks.

10:33 – Second box for Parteen is dominated by Rachel Hartigan (FF), Val Gillane (FG) & Cllr Michael Begley (FG). “They’re voting local observes,” one tally man.

10:11 -Initial tallies show Val Gillane (FG) is taking votes from sitting Cllr Michael Begley (IND).

10:03 – No boxes opened yet in Killaloe MD or Kilrush LEA, tally system had been running a test! Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) says he “got a fright” upon seeing initial tally.

09:54 – Within St Conaire’s, the leaders appear to be Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) and Tony Mulcahy (FG).

09:52 – First time candidate, David Griffin (FF) as per one box could record an impressive vote out of Newmarket-on-Fergus.

09:47 – From the tallies for Ireland South in Co Clare, Michael McNamara (IND) and Eddie Punch (II) among those polling well.

09:46 – From an Ennis Educate Together box, Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) is the clear winner.

09:45 – One Ennis CBS box has Cllr Mary Howard (FG) with the most votes, followed closely by Cllr Pat Daly (FF).

09:39 – Some more of the candidates have arrived. Seamus Ryan (LAB) and Ruairí Keenan (IND) are in to soak up the atmosphere.

09:30 – So far in the Ennistymon LEA with 3.4% of boxes opened:

Fianna Fáil (22.2%)
Fine Gael (22.2%)
Green Party (11.1%
Independent (11.1%
Irish People (11.1%)
Labour(11.1%)
Sinn Féin (11.1%)

09:27 – Early party totals in the Ennis MD with just 2.5 percent of the boxes counted.

Fianna Fáil (30.8%)
Independents (23.1%)
Fine Gael (15.4%)
Green Party (7.7%)
Labour (7.7%)
Sinn Féin (7.7%)
Soc Dem (7.7%)

09:15 – Votes being sorted as we continue to get information on the tallies.

09:09 – Two more of Sinn Féin’s candidates are now here, Martina Cleary (SF) and Conor O’Sullivan (SF).

09:07 – James Ryan (SF) has now landed.

09:06 – Cllr Michael Begley (IND) is another of the early arrivals here in Ennis.

09:03 – Some candidates have already landed at the count centre including Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF), Keith McNamara (IND) and Amanda Major (IND).

08:56 – Tally people now arriving into the count centre as we prepare to open boxes.

08:45 – Our election live-blog is brought to you in association with Blossoms on the Go. We’ll be on the go across two days for a very busy two days.

08:43 – Good morning and welcome to Treacy’s West County Hotel in Ennis. We’ll be keeping you posted across the two days as the race to elect twenty eight councillors in Clare kicks off.